Managing any business is hard work, especially during a global pandemic with stay-at-home orders in place. It requires creativity and flexibility along with some amount of prior preparation. On May 11, 2020, I gathered a group of representatives from several start-up companies that are developing advanced nuclear technologies to talk about how they are making […]
Podcast
Atomic Show #274 – Thomas Jam Pedersen, Copenhagen Atomics
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 […]
Atomic Show #273 – Liz Muller, Deep Isolation
Liz Muller is a co-founder and the CEO of Deep Isolation, a company that makes the modest claim of having invented a solution to nuclear waste. The politically unsolved waste issue has plagued nuclear energy development since the mid 1970s. That was when it became abundantly clear that the original plan to recycle used fuel […]
Atomic Show #272 – Karnfull Energi
Karnfull Energi is a young company that is successfully proving that nuclear energy is more popular than politicians believe. They have created the world’s first 100% nuclear energy offering. Customers have responded with their wallets, showing they are willing to pay a modest premium for higher quality electricity. People are shopping at Karfull’s online store. […]
Atomic Show #271 – Improving Nuclear Cost and Schedule Performance
One of the most persistent arguments against the rapid deployment of nuclear energy is that projects are too expensive and take too long to complete. Based on the performance of the few nuclear plants that have begun construction in the West during this century, it’s hard to disagree. But there is solid evidence from projects […]
Atomic Show #270 – Fastest Path to Zero
Suzanne (Suzy) Hobbs Baker serves as the Creative Director for Fastest Path to Zero. I recently spoke with Suzy and Steve Aplin, a consultant to the Canadian nuclear industry and frequent Atomic Show guest, about the work that Fastest Path to Zero has done and plans to do in the near future. Fastest Path to […]
Atomic Show #269 – Robert Bryce, A Question of Power
In the modern world, countries need a reliable electricity grid to prosper. Globally, demand for electricity is growing as a result of population growth, new ways to use electricity, and the effort to spread access to electrical power to a greater portion of the world’s population. For the past four years, Robert Bryce has been […]
Atomic Show #268 – Jigar and Jake
Oklo Power recently announced that it had filed the first non-light water reactor combined license application ever submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Their 1.5 MWe fast spectrum, passively safe reactor represents a complete paradigm shift for nuclear energy. It’s not a big, slow to build, hugely expensive project requiring complex financing structures. It’s a […]
Atomic Show #267 – Dr. Lauren Jackson addresses radiophobia
A couple of weeks ago, I heard Dr. (Isabel) Lauren Jackson talking to Bill Nye on his Science Rules podcast. At the end of his discussion with her, Nye seemed to have changed his mind in the positive direction regarding the importance of nuclear energy. He seemed far less worried about radiation and the potential […]
Atomic Show #266 – Seeing the Light about atomic energy potential
Facing the immense threat of climate change, the need to power several billion more people and the continuing reluctance to use the most powerful tool available, Scott L. Montgomery and Thomas Graham Jr. realized that there was an information and perception gap about nuclear energy of roughly equivalent magnitudes. Their desire to help fill the […]
Atomic Show #265 – Atomic Optimism. Under-appreciated opportunities in sight.
On Sunday, Feb 17, I realized that I was feeling extraordinarily good about the future of atomic energy, the future of clean energy production, and the future prosperity of the world that my grandchildren are going to inhabit. I immediately composed and sent an invitation to some atomic colleagues to join me in a conversation. […]
Atomic Show #264 – Building momentum in advanced nuclear energy
It’s not glaringly obvious, but preparatory steps enabling a take off for advanced nuclear power systems are making measurable progress. Enabling legislative acts have been passed by both the Senate and House and signed by the President, turning them into laws requiring actions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is back to full strength and under a […]
