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The Atomic Show #086 – Howard Shaffer – voluntary nuclear educator

ByRod Adams

Howard Shaffer is a Rickover selected former Navy nuclear officer, he helped to build and operate several plants in the US and Taiwan, and volunteered throughout his career to share nuclear information with anti-nuclear advocates.

Howard Shaffer is a retired nuclear engineer who received his initial nuclear training and experience as a member of the Nuclear Navy. He attended nuclear power school at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, served on the USS Seawolf at sea and in the shipyard during a conversion to SUBSAFE, and he spent a long an active career in the nuclear industry.

He was involved in the startup of several plants in the US and in Taiwan and often voluntarily represented his company and nuclear technology in general in discussions involving anti-nuclear activists. One of the successes of his efforts was during the licensing and start-up of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant – the site of a lengthy anti-nuclear effort led by the Clamshell Alliance.

Many of the people on the other side of that effort are still actively pursuing their anti-nuclear goals – as Howard said during our conversation, some of them give every appearance that they will go to their graves before they give up their almost religious aversion to all things nuclear.

We had a good chat, hope you agree.

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Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

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