Atomic Insights

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

Atomic Show #262 – New thinking about nuclear energy

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It’s time – or way past time – to think and talk about nuclear energy in new ways, recognizing the importance of the topic for the future health and prosperity of humanity.

This show includes 5 forward leaning thought leaders in atomic energy. All of them are optimistic about nuclear’s future, often driven by their acceptance of the fact that abundant clean energy isn’t possible without it.

  • Jessica Lovering is the Director of Energy at The Breakthrough Institute and also a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon studying energy policy and policy implementation.
  • Caroline Cochran is a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer at Oklo, a start-up nuclear technology development enterprise that is working on its initial product, a 1-2 megawatt compact fast reactor designed to meet the energy needs of remote areas, mining and perhaps even neighborhoods or industrial parks.
  • Ashley Finan is the Policy Director for the Nuclear Innovation Alliance and the Director of Nuclear Innovation for the Clean Air Task Force
  • Sarah Spath is the East Coast regional director for operations for Mothers for Nuclear, a grass roots organization started by two mothers working at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Heather and Kristin were motivated to help people understand the importance of their work and their devotion to future generations.
  • Lenka Kollar is the Director of Strategy and External Relations for NuScale Power, the leading small modular reactor development company in the U.S. NuScale filed its application for a design certification in late 2016. It was accepted and docketed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 20, 2017. That date is the starting point for a 42 month review that should be completed during the 4th quarter of 2020.

We talked about nuclear technology exports and the importance of untangling the bureaucratic obstacles to engaging in international commerce or even hiring non U.S. citizens that currently require an average of 400 days. We talked about new ways to talk about nuclear energy to friends and family and the importance of overcoming the nuclear industry’s reluctance to engage in consistent marketing designed to get people interested and welcoming to the capable technologies it sells.

We talked about nuclear technology systems designed to be more approachable and understandable so that they can be well accepted and integrated into community level power systems. We talked about the value of energy density as a way to provide people with abundant resources while also lightening their impact on the natural world.

It was a great conversation that made time fly. Before we knew it, we were hitting the end of our scheduled time and the busy people involved had to drop off to attend to other commitments.

Paraphrasing an established saying: If you want to accomplish something big, ask busy people to help.

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Atomic Show #261 – Three advanced nuclear technology developers

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Advanced nuclear development projects have made some significant steps during 2017. I met – via Skype – with representatives of three of the projects yesterday. Several more were invited, but were busy doing business even on a Sunday evening.

The three who were able to attend were Seth Grae, the CEO of Lightbridge (NASDAQ: LTBR), Canon Bryan, the CFO of Terrestrial Energy, and Robert Hargraves a key player on ThorCon’s team.

Seth talked about Lightbridge’s innnovative new fuel for light water reactors and its potential to affordable increase power output, add substantial safety margins, and increase the time between refueling outages. He described Lightbridge’s announced joint venture with Areva, the testing program, the regulatory path to fuel certification and the plan for commercialization.

Disclosure: I own Lightbridge stock but have not made any recent trades and will not make trades in the next 7 days.

Canon discussed Terrestrial Energy’s sealed reactor modules, his company’s decision to use fuel that is enriched to less than 5%, their recent completion of the first stage of vendor design review by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the aspects of molten salt technology that convinced him of its financial viability.

Bob described how his company was focusing on achieving competitive lifecycle costs, working with countries that had an immediate need for new, reliable power sources, and how the Devanny’s shipbuilding experience was influencing their designs for manufacturability.

All three described some of their common challenges and their efforts to overcome those hurdles.

Though I would have liked to include more participants to show the breadth and diversity of the advanced nuclear technology development efforts, I think you will enjoy this episode.

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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 […]

Atomic Show #259 – David Schumacher The New Fire Movie

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David Schumacher is a filmmaker who was inspired to learn more about nuclear energy at a Wired-sponsored event in 2011. That event took place soon after the Fukushima event captured widespread media attention. During the Wired gathering, he heard Bill Gates talk about his investments in TerraPower and his excitement in being involved in the […]

Atomic Show #258 – Energy and the Modern State With Professor George Gonzales

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Dr. George Gonzales is an energy-focused political scientist and professor at the University of Miami. He has written a number of books about the relationships between energy, the environment, international relations, and political decision making. His upcoming work is titled Energy and the Modern State; it is scheduled to be published in 2018. On this […]

Atomic Show #257 – Rich Powell, Managing Director Policy and Strategy ClearPath Foundation

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ClearPath Foundation has established a new niche; it is an unabashedly conservative organization that believes that clean energy is an important issue. It is taking aggressive action to seize the initiative. It asserts that the definition of “clean” energy should not be left in the hands of people who do not like material prosperity and […]

Atomic Show #256 – Tom Turner Talks About David Brower

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David Brower had a profound influence on the Environmental Movement and its gradual transition from groups of outdoors enthusiasts and conservationists who focused on protecting public lands and establishing national parks to a powerful political movement with major influences on a variety of important industrial, economic and international policy arenas. The Movement has had a […]

Atomic Show # 255 – Powerful fuels can enable human freedom and prosperity

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Some people who are not well versed in human history believe that fossil fuels are inherently evil, costly and harmful to human health. They ignore the side of the accounting ledger that documents the incredibly beneficial effects concentrated fuels have provided to overall human freedom, happiness, self actualization and reduction of dependence on nature. Those […]

Atomic Show #254 – Don’t let a crisis go to waste

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Rachel Pritzker and Ben Heard, two skilled communicators that have recognized the immense gift to humanity represented by the tightly packed power inside uranium and thorium nuclei, joined me in a terrific discussion about effectively communicating the awesome story of nuclear energy. It should be apparent by now that the US nuclear industry is facing […]

Atomic Show #253 – Delivering the Nuclear Promise

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The US nuclear industry has decided that it’s time to take aggressive action to improve its operational efficiency. Leaders have looked hard at the competitive landscape. They’ve clearly recognized that while they produce a valuable, desirable commodity, their production costs are not competitive. Many of them aren’t willing to give up their markets and valuable […]

Atomic Show #252 – Security, Future of Energy, HEU

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On the evening of April 10, 2016, I met with two good friends and fellow nuclear energy bloggers for a wide ranging discussion about nuclear energy. We talked about the following topics: Nuclear energy’s role in the future of energy supplies Impact of the Nuclear Security Summits initiated by President Obama Demonization campaign being waged […]

Atomic Show #251 – SA Royal Commission, Diablo Canyon, Trivial Tritium, DOE budget priorities

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It’s not often that the Atomic Show has the chance to be a source of breaking news, but this show includes a timely report from Ben Heard in Adelaide, South Australia. Just an hour before our show began, the South Australia Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission issued the tentative findings from the investigative effort begun […]