Atomic Insights

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

nuclear entrepreneur

The Atomic Show #099 – StartupStoryRadio.com interviews Rod Adams of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc.

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Rob McNealy is the host and producer of StartupStoryRadio.com. Rob and Rod Adams chatted recently about Rod’s efforts as atomic entrepreneur who wants to change the world.

Rob McNealy of StartupStoryRadio.com and I had an interesting chat on Tuesday about Adams Atomic Engines, Inc. (AAE). We discussed the 15-year effort to build an independent, atomic energy focused company that can be self sustaining. (Aside – any any navy nuke will know, achieving a self-sustaining condition is a very important milestone.)

We – right now mostly “I”, but I have had a lot of help over the years – are now focusing on efforts to share energy information and market the potential that nuclear fission has to change the world’s energy market dynamics. Some may wonder how you make money by sharing, but there is incredible value in knowledge and information.

AAE has been a ‘C’ corporation since 1993, but we have been searching for a business model that works under the current legal and regulatory constraints that make it exceedingly costly – with substantial regulatory and financial risk to success – to set a course for building our simplified atomic generators.

After many meetings and discussions with investors, team members, and potential investors, we think we have a fuzzy plan that will work while retaining one of our most important assets – independence. As you continue listening to the Atomic Show and reading the Atomic Insights Blog, you will begin hearing from our sponsors. Please understand that any supporters are welcome, but they will choose to support because of what we are already doing and saying.

As I have told people many times, and hope that I have demonstrated to you over the years, my soul would be too expensive for anyone to purchase. If our message happens to attract an audience and that audience happens to be attractive enough so that commercial enterprises pay to talk to that audience, that’s good.

It will not change the message development process, which involves a serious effort to figure out the right path, not the path that will make the most money over a short period of time. My messages may not be popular, but I am okay with that.

That is a long way of saying that you will hear interesting sponsor messages on the Atomic Show, but you should not expect us to change our tune.

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The Atomic Show #095 – A. Nichole Ellis, mom, entrepreneur, nuclear criticality safety engineer

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Nichole Ellis is a 30-something owner of an LLC that performs nuclear criticality safety computations from a home office. We spoke about the nuclear industry as a career choice.

I met Nichole Ellis last fall when she was the leader of a well run conference for young nuclear professionals. As a 30-something engineer who started her nuclear career in the early 1990s, she is something of a rarity – when she entered the field there were not too many people in the US choosing to major in nuclear engineering and planning to make a career in the field.

We spoke about the kinds of people she has worked with over the years, how she became a qualified nuclear criticality safety engineer, how she has made career choices to allow her to balance work and family responsibilities, and how her particular branch of the nuclear profession works to mentor and train its up and coming members.

One of the reasons that I am so excited by the prospects for new growth in the industry is that there are people like Nichole who are ready, willing and able to take on the responsibilities that the technology demands.

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