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Atomic Insights

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

Politics of Nuclear Energy

Atomic Show #291 – Kalev Kallemets, Fermi Energia

February 24, 2021 By Rod Adams

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 population is roughly the size of the state of Maine and whose current electricity supply system is dependent on oil oil shale burning power plants with a small, rapidly varying portion of energy from wind turbines.

On the web page where Fermi Energia explains why it believes Estonia needs nuclear, there is a graph of its wind power generation as measured each hour during 2018 and an explanation for the mismatch between this pattern and electricity consumption.

Kalev Kallemets, born and raised in the Estonian countryside during its days as a Soviet satellite, has a keen understanding of his country’s history and its people. He has significant experience as a political leader and broad education in engineering and business.

He joined me for lively, informative and entertaining Atomic Show.

Kallemets has gathered a compact group of like-minded people; there are about a dozen members of the team. They working with numerous partners to create an fertile environment for new nuclear plant development, including a regulatory system and strong public interest and acceptance of nuclear energy.

They are leading with the benefits, but also helping people to understand the responsibilities that come with becoming a country whose power comes from atomic fission.

Fermi Energia is led by people who have a keen understanding of the value of nuclear energy and a realization that there are a wide range of technological capabilities under development. The four currently leading the evaluation process are GE-Hitachi’s BWRX-300, NuScale’s NuScale Power Module, Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR, and a high temperature gas reactor being developed by Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC).

The company knows that no matter which technological choice is made, the key to success will be the planning and development effort that must be invested to create effective projects with the kind of social license needed to support superior cost and schedule performance.

One measure of Fermi Energia’s early success is its recent social media-enabled fund raising round to provide the seed capital needed for the important planning stage. Kalev describes how the early goal for its Funderbeam campaign was doubled to €1 million after they obtained an early indication of interest in their development effort.

When that campaign was officially opened, it was completely subscribed in less than an hour. That indication of real, committed interest led the company to double its goal again before closing the finance round with what it considers to be an adequately strong balance sheet.

The successful financial raise has not changed the company’s frugal spending habits; the founders have a keen sense of corporate responsibility and personal ownership. They know they still have a long way to go before they are producing revenue from the products of the nuclear power systems they are planning to build.

During Atomic Show 291, Kalev talks about the Estonian energy supply situation, its relationships with its Baltic neighbors, the importance of Lithuanian and Poland, the still fresh memory of Soviet occupation, and the vision of a clean, safe, affordable, secure, and reliable power system anchored by modern atomic power stations.

As always, I encourage you to comment, ask questions, and engage in productive discussion. I think you will enjoy hearing Kalev talk about his company’s exciting efforts to produce a bright future for his country.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/AtomicShowFiles/atomic_20210222_291.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:42 — 58.2MB)

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Filed Under: Business of atomic energy, International nuclear, Podcast, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Atomic Show #290 – Myrto Tripathi, Voices of Nuclear

February 9, 2021 By Rod Adams

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 Tripathi, the founder and chair of Voices of Nuclear, visited the Atomic Show to tell us more about her group and its efforts to tell the nuclear energy story.

She describes the current situation in Europe, where there are a handful of new reactors under construction, there are numerous reactors being closed and there is a solid front of opposition from several prominent EU member states – particularly Austria and Germany.

She explains how the European reaction to the Fukushima event – now almost ten years ago – helped to convince her to leave a successful career in the nuclear industry to play a bigger part in the civil society discussion about its role, especially in light of the growing threat of climate change.

She talks about the role of young people, primarily under the age of 35, in bringing their vibrant, optimistic energy to the Voices and she discusses the challenges that her group faces in obtaining necessary and useful financial support from the established industry.

She also mentioned the importance of retired people in sharing their stories about pride in their life’s work in developing and operating clean nuclear generation facilities.

We spoke at length about the successful, well-funded and carefully planned efforts by nuclear energy opponents to spread misinformation and fake news about nuclear and how those efforts have helped to silence nuclear energy supporters.

We spoke about the disappointing state of public misunderstanding as illustrated by a recent poll taken in France in which 86% of the respondents between 18-34 years old said they believed that nuclear energy contributed to the problem of climate change.

With their diligent efforts over a number of decades, nuclear opponents effectively created a “taboo” around nuclear. They made it politically and economically costly for ambitious leaders in both government and in commercial enterprises outside of nuclear to publicly take a supportive position.

One reason I invited Myrto to be a guest on the Atomic Show was that I sense there are many in the US who believe that the nuclear grass is greener on the other side of the Atlantic. At the moment, the situation in Europe is tenuous and could use a strong public engagement effort.

Voices of Nuclear is working hard to be a positive part of that effort. They have a base of talented volunteers, but they could use all the additional support anyone wants to offer. It would be especially useful, if your time is more constrained than your resources, to support their efforts financially.

Myrto did not ask me to say that and might even be a little mad at me for making the statement, but changing people’s minds isn’t easy or cheap.

Please join in the conversation.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/AtomicShowFiles/atomic_20210209_290.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:21 — 86.4MB)

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Filed Under: Atomic politics, International nuclear, Podcast, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Atomic Show #268 – Jigar and Jake

March 22, 2020 By Rod Adams 3 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: New Nuclear, Podcast, Politics of Nuclear Energy, Smaller reactors

Atomic Show #265 – Atomic Optimism. Under-appreciated opportunities in sight.

February 19, 2019 By Rod Adams 7 Comments

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. […]

Filed Under: Business of atomic energy, Podcast, Politics of Nuclear Energy

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

November 27, 2017 By Rod Adams 8 Comments

Eric, Kirsty and Iida provide copies of Energy for Humanity's recent report on European emissions

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 […]

Filed Under: 100% WWS, Alternative energy, Atomic politics, Climate change, International nuclear, Podcast, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Self-Described Antinuclear, Pro-Renewable Former Vermont Legislator Claims “We were angels, doing God’s work.”

November 21, 2017 By Rod Adams 7 Comments

Tony Klein, a former Vermont legislator who played an important role in Vermont energy law creation during the last decade, recently gave a fascinating talk at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Vermont. Fortunately for those of us with a deep interest in energy politics, the talk was competently recorded for posterity […]

Filed Under: Tony Klein, Antinuclear activist, Politics of Nuclear Energy, Solar energy, Unreliables, Vermont Yankee, Wind energy

Logical Basis For Sec. Rick Perry’s Resiliency Pricing Rule.

October 30, 2017 By Rod Adams 18 Comments

The intense conversation Energy Secretary Rick Perry purposely initiated with his Sept. 29 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission continues to occupy the attention of specialists. The direction was concise: implement pricing rules that protect electricity generators that meet certain requirements from being pushed into early retirement. The marching orders came with an aggressive but […]

Filed Under: Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy, Economics, Politics of Nuclear Energy

U.S. DOE to Follow Industry Lead In Setting Priorities Under Trump

August 20, 2017 By Rod Adams

R. Shane Johnson recently briefed representatives of the U.S. nuclear power industry about the the strategies and programs that the Department of Energy (DOE) is developing to implement the Trump Administration’s vision for nuclear energy. Johnson is the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. He’s the senior career civil servant in […]

Filed Under: Atomic politics, Politics of Nuclear Energy, UWC 2017

New York’s Zero Emission Credit For Upstate Nuclear Plants Upheld

August 10, 2017 By Rod Adams

Just over a year ago, I visited Albany, New York to attend a public hearing held by the New York Public Service Commission. I joined a number of friends – new, old and formerly just virtual – who were there to find out if the NYPSC would make the important decision to give upstate nuclear […]

Filed Under: Atomic politics, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Pro nuclear movement can appear confused to left and right

July 31, 2017 By Rod Adams

Last week Ketan Joshi (@KetanJO) published a piece titled Nuclear power’s tense contradiction. Ketan is a thoughtful science and technology writer who earned a science degree (neuroscience and psychology) from Sydney University and has worked in the renewable energy industry. He is also deeply interested in politics and identifies with the left. His article is […]

Filed Under: Atomic politics, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Moon Jae-in Making Friends By Promising To Buy More Gas

July 21, 2017 By Rod Adams

During his successful campaign to become South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in promised to dramatically increase South Korea’s natural gas consumption. Within weeks of taking office, he took several concrete steps towards fulfilling that promise. He announced the near-term closure of 10 coal plants, he allowed the operating license to expire as scheduled for South Korea’s […]

Filed Under: Antinuclear activist, Atomic politics, Fossil fuel competition, International nuclear, Natural Gas, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Nominations for NRC Commissioners

May 24, 2017 By Rod Adams

Yesterday, the President announced his intent to fill two vacancies at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The White House press release names Annie Caputo, currently serving as senior policy advisor for Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to a seat with a term expiring June 30, 2021. As stated in […]

Filed Under: Nuclear regulations, Politics of Nuclear Energy

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