
NRC Chair Hanson shares his thoughts on the NRC’s mission with ANS Executive Director Piercy.
Craig Piercy, the Executive Director and CEO of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), sat down with Chair Chris Hanson of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to talk about the NRC’s role in nuclear energy development and the way that the agency is responding to growing demands for its services to the American public. This post…

Experience Power with a healthy dose of microgrids, hydrogen and nuclear energy information
Each year since 1998, POWER Magazine has hosted a conference titled Experience Power that brings together utilities, suppliers, customers and energy leaders to discuss trends in the electric power sector. The event is…
Where is the nuclear industry headed? Four top executives share their thoughts at ANS Utility Working Conference 2023
One good reason to attend industry conferences is to be able carefully listen to the thoughts of industry leaders, especially during unscripted panel discussions. When the executives are among colleagues and aren’t delivering…

Sense of purpose at the 2023 ANS Utility Working Conference
The theme at the annual American Nuclear Society Utility Working Conference (#ANSUWC) was resiliency, a term that applies equally well to the equipment and the people that make up the U.S. nuclear industry….

The most secure place to store Plutonium is inside an operating fission reactor
Plutonium-239 (Pu-239) is a nuclear fuel source that should play an important role in a sustainable, rapidly growing nuclear power enterprise. It is a natural byproduct that is created inside every fission reactor…

Atomic Show #312 – Tyler Bernstein, CEO Zeno Power
Zeno Power makes cost-effective radioisotope power systems (RPS) for some of the most challenging environments in the solar system. Its systems use a proprietary package that allows a wider variety of isotopes to…

Atomic Show #311 – Mary Jo Rogers – Founder, Rogers Leadership Group
Mary Jo Rogers is a trained clinical psychologist who developed her interest workforce safety cultures and leadership in the nuclear power sector while consulting and working for ComEd (later Exelon). At the time…

Atomic Show #310 – Ron Faibish on Space Nuclear Power
In the past few years, there has been a strong revival of interest in using nuclear fission energy to power space travel and planetary exploration. There have also been new developments in radioisotope…
Urenco, Bruce Power Sign MOU To Develop U-Battery for Canada
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…
Atomicrod visits Dot Net Rocks to chat with Carl and Richard
On January 18, I joined Carl and Richard, the hosts of Dot Net Rocks, for an hour long conversation about nuclear energy. We spanned a number of topics including current light water reactors,…
What makes smaller nuclear power systems so exciting?
Let me start by dispelling the notion that I think smaller, modular, manufactured nuclear power systems – often called SMRs or micro reactors – are the be all and end all solution to…
Is V.C. Summer really dead or is near term revival possible?
Several leaders in the South Carolina government are actively searching for ways to revive the V. C. Summer expansion project. The project includes construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 power plants capable of producing…
Who said modular construction would save money on first of a kind units?
On July 27, 2015, the Wall St. Journal published an article written by Rebecca Smith titled Prefab Nuclear Plants Prove Just as Expensive. That piece has been widely shared and discussed on social…
NRC wavering on AP1000 decision under pressure by FOE
On May 10, 2011, the Friends of the Earth, a group that has professionally opposed nuclear energy since the late 1960s, issued a press release that challenged the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s refusal…

Smoking gun part 26 – Coal lobbies versus National Reactor Testing Station
Proving the Principle provides some wonderful and inspiring stories about the days when the United States had a place where atomic tinkerers could explore new ideas and test those ideas with real reactors…
Natural gas burners file suit challenging fairness of New York Zero Emission Credts
A coalition of electric power producers that operate natural gas-burning generation plants have filed suit in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. They are challenging the New York State Department…
Richard Muller is marketing natural gas in a “converted skeptic” costume
Richard Muller has a lot in common with Amory Lovins. They both received MacArthur Foundation Fellowships (aka “Genius Grants”) several decades ago – Muller in 1982 and Lovins in 1993. They both get…
Nuclear Venture Capital
Nuclear Venture Capital – enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy

How Hot is Cold Fusion?
The 24th International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF24) was held at the lovely and spacious Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA over four days in late July. As a venture investor looking at evaluating and investing in a wide range of advanced nuclear ventures, I was invited to participate and/or sponsor the event. While…

Nucleating our carbon-managed future
If you’ve studied chemistry, you’ll know that the nucleation point describes the start of a change in physical state, such as from a solid to a liquid, or liquid to gas. Water starting to crystallize into ice nucleates where the first H2O molecules reorganize as a solid. We’re seeing a similar transformation of human society—forced…

Rod Adams
Managing Partner, Nucleation Capital, a venture fund enabling broader investor access to a diverse portfolio of advanced nuclear energy and deep decarbonization ventures. Nuclear energy expert and former submarine Engineer Officer with nuclear propulsion plant experience. Founder, Adams Atomic Engines, Inc. Host and producer, The Atomic Show Podcast.