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Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Energy Outlook suggests rethinking nuclear power – including the use of smaller plants

July 18, 2007 By Rod Adams

One of my favorite sources of interesting commentary on the energy business is Energy Outlook. It has been on my blogroll for a long time. Here is the author’s profile:

Geoffrey Styles is an energy and strategy consultant specializing in the application of scenario thinking for Fortune 500 companies and other clients. In his corporate career, he focused on the global oil refining, marketing and alternative energy businesses and has held senior positions in alliance management, planning, supply & distribution, and price risk management. He has published articles on energy security and alternative energy and advised NASA on solar power. He has an MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from U.C. Davis.

Geoff has a great energy industry background and writes about a variety of thought provoking topics.

Here is a quote from his July 17, 2007 entry titled Rethinking Nuclear:

What if nuclear power hadn’t been discovered before World War II, and instead had emerged from the laboratory only a few years ago? How might we consider exploiting an energy source with its properties today, without the baggage of the last sixty-plus years? Is it pre-determined that the only way to tap the energy of the atom is in 1,000 MW increments? The record of the US nuclear naval propulsion program suggests otherwise. Consider the difference between coal-fired power plants and those burning natural gas. There are important economies of scale in the transportation and handling of coal, and in the sizing of boilers, that create a strong bias towards large plants. In contrast, gas-fired power comes in a wide variety of sizes, from under 100 kW to hundreds of MW, at least in part because the fuel infrastructure is so simple. So is nuclear power more like coal or gas in this regard?

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About Rod Adams

Rod Adams is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience, now serving as a Managing Partner at Nucleation Capital, an emerging climate-focused fund. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial discussion and analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology and policies for several decades. He is the founder of Atomic Insights and host and producer of The Atomic Show Podcast.

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