Atomic Insights

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

International nuclear

Atomic Show #296 – Julia Pyke, Director of Finance Sizewell C

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Julia Pyke, Director of Finance, Sizewell C

Sizewell C is a project to build a 3,200 MWe power station consisting of two EPR units on the site that currently hosts a single large pressurized water reactor (Sizewell B). With the exception of site-specific foundations and structures, the new power station will be a copy of the station currently under construction at Hinkley Point C.

Like Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C will be capable of supplying approximately 7% of the UK’s annual electricity requirement. It will be able to run at full power for 90% (or more) of the hours in the year.

By following Hinkley Point, Sizewell will be a much less risky project. Trades have been trained, construction kinks have been worked out, supply chains have been created, managers have gained experience, and designs have been completed and tested. As a result of this “derisking” (using the lingo of project managers) Sizewell C will be a more affordable endeavor that should begin saving customers money from the time it first begins operating.

But that expectation is unlikely to be fulfilled if the project has to be financed in the same way as Hinkley Point C, where the long construction duration and the inability to recover financing costs during construction has resulted in a situation where 70% or more of the total project cost is paid out in interest and return on investor risk capital.

On this episode of the Atomic Show, Julia Pyke, the Director of Finance for the Sizewell C project, explains how the regulated asset base (RAB) model will enable Sizewell C to be economically financed and built.

In the weeks since we recorded this episode of the Atomic Show, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the importance of making it possible for Sizewell C participants to reach a final investment decision. Approval of the RAB model will be a major step forward in moving this project towards completion.

It is a shovel-ready project that will help fill growing vulnerabilities in the UK’s energy supply. It’s not a quick fix, but it will be a durable one.

Please participate in the discussion here. I hope you enjoy the show.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:02 — 33.0MB)

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Atomic Show #294 – Mikal Boe, Core Power Founder and CEO

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Mikal Boe, courtesy of Core Power

Mikal Boe has spent 30 years in and around the commercial shipping industry. Several years ago, he began wondering how his industry was going to meet the increasingly stringent rules for air pollution and CO2 production that were being implemented by governing regulators, especially the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

His extensive technical research led him to recognize that nuclear energy was the only available technology that could supply the power and energy requirements for competitive ships and also meet ever tightening regulations on their emissions.

But he also recognized that moving from the established technology of efficient, rugged, well-proven diesel engines was going to take time and would only happen if founded on solid groundwork. Included in that evaluation was an understanding of the need for open, honest, and inclusive conversations with a wide range of stakeholders.

Founded in 2018, Core Power is focused on commercializing nuclear energy products that customers want to buy because they are the best available solution to their needs. Cost plays a role, but so does capability, acceptability, environmental footprint, and longevity. Core Power’s leaders have determined that the technology that is best positioned to meet the needs of their target market is the molten chloride fast reactor.

In partnership with TerraPower as the technical lead and Southern Company as an experienced owner/operator, Core Power is participating in the Molten Chloride Fast Reactor project.

Under a Risk Reduction grant in the US DOE’s Advanced Demonstration Reactor Program (ADRP), the team will be developing and constructing a Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) a zero or low power reactor using the materials and salt mixtures that will be used in full scale products.

On this episode, Mikal Boe explains how he and his team made their choices and how they plan to take a step by step approach to achieving their goal of giving the commercial shipping industry a viable, competitive nuclear propulsion option.

When you listen, you will hear Mikal describing what might initially appear to be a counterintuitive initial step in the process of demonstrating and refining ships using nuclear propulsion to its full advantage.

One aspect of their plan must be emphasized – it involves a dramatic change in the current model of crewing, building, and maintaining ocean going vessels. Even though their overall costs will win many competitive battles, the accounts that make up those costs will be substantially shifted and prioritized.

Comments are always appreciated.

Disclosure: Nucleation Capital –where I am a managing partner – is so enthused about Core Power’s prospects for success that we joined their recent fundraising round as the only participating venture capital fund. (There were several larger investors that are not venture capital funds.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:00 — 64.3MB)

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China’s high temperature reactor – pebble bed modular (HTR-PM) achieves its first criticality

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On the morning of September 12, 2021, reactor number 1 of the eagerly awaited HTR-PM project was taken critical for the first time. Initial criticality for any new reactor is a big deal for the people involved in the project; this one is a big deal for the future of nuclear energy. It might also […]

Atomic Show #291 – Kalev Kallemets, Fermi Energia

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Fermi Energia is an Estonian company whose mission is to provide its home country with an independent, clean, safe and affordable electricity production system by 2035. That system will be anchored by base supply from small modular nuclear reactors. It is a lofty mission for a small company in a country whose land mass and […]

Atomic Show #290 – Myrto Tripathi, Voices of Nuclear

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Nuclear energy professionals are credible sources of information about a powerful technology that can help address climate change and contribute to humanity’s development. Voices of Nuclear is an international non-profit group that seeks to empower nuclear supporters, both professionals in the industry and allies outside of the industry, with tools, organization and effective messages. Myrto […]

Transcript: Atomic Show #278 – Micro-Modular Reactor (MMR) project partners USNC, GFP and OPG

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Atomic Show #278 transcript, lightly edited for clarity. Intro music (00:15): Rod Adams (00:21):This is Rod Adams and it’s time for Atomic Show show number 278. Yes, these Atomic Shows are coming almost regularly these days. I guess it helps to have not only myself, but all of my guests, working from home. Today I […]

Atomic Show #274 – Thomas Jam Pedersen, Copenhagen Atomics

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Copenhagen isn’t the first city name that comes to mind as the place to start a nuclear company. Denmark has decommissioned its last research reactor and has never had a nuclear power plant. That hasn’t deterred Thomas Jam Pedersen and his colleagues at Copenhagen Atomics. Starting a decade or more ago, they began learning about […]

What exploded in Russia on Aug 8? My estimate is a (chemical) booster rocket for a nuclear powered cruise missile.

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A cruise missile with a nuclear reactor heated turbofan engine and a liquid fueled booster rocket is the most likely description of the Russian developmental weapons system that exploded while being tested on August 8. It’s likely that the explosion occurred during maintenance or fueling operations on a barge floating off shore and not during […]

Urenco, Bruce Power Sign MOU To Develop U-Battery for Canada

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Urenco, Bruce Power and AMEC NSS Limited recently announced that they had signed an MOU to cooperate in the design, licensing and development of Urenco’s U-Battery micro nuclear system for the Canadian electricity and heat market. The U-Battery contains a 10 MWth nuclear heat source that can be configured to produce either 4 MWe plus […]

Atomic Show #260 – Pro-nuclear voices from COP23 in Bonn. Not a warm welcome

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This episode of the Atomic Show is a conversation among five clean energy advocates who attended the COP with the goal of sharing what they know about the ways that nuclear energy can help reduce global emissions while also providing a growing amount of reliable power. With more power, more people will have a pathway […]

(Re-)Creating Nuclear Fuel Demand in East Asia

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South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, three historically large markets for uranium and fuel cycle services, have been under siege by organized antinuclear opponents who have made the most from Fukushima to rally public support for their efforts. To paraphrase a cliché, nuclear energy opponents did not let an attention-getting crisis go to waste. As a […]

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