Titans Of Nuclear | Interviewing The World Experts On Nuclear Energy

Episode Content: John's career at the Department of Energy, the National Labs, as an ANS congressional fellow, and in the private sector Serving on the Blue Ribbon commission for nuclear waste management Why deployment time is key to cost reduction NEI's national nuclear energy strategy: Preserve, Sustain, Innovate, and Thrive An explanation of "negative pricing" and the unintended consequences of tax credits The long term strategic advantages that come form being a global energy supplier Pros and Cons of various mechanisms the government can use to support the industry How SMRs alleviate some of the market problems nuclear faces today Some of the other all-stars at NEI: Maria, Dan, John, Pam, etc. A key tale for nuclear reactor innovators... 

Episode Content: Jeff's earlier career as an NRC vendor inspector  The relationship between NRC and Industry including the balance of health and safety against cost and schedule  His work with Westinghouse bidding on an South African nuclear build and the story behind their attempted development of the pebble bed A description of the Pebble Bed technology advantages Further details on the X-energy fuel and reactor technology The role of Silicon Carbide in in TRISO Fuel  An alternative safety approach to redundancy and defense in depth The X-energy team composition and its founder Kam Ghaffarian  How high temperature nuclear can be used for water desalination Further details of X-energy's deployment strategy

Jessica's start in Astrophysics, transition to Energy, and how she joined Breakthrough The various topic areas the Breakthrough Institute focuses on and its origin story The biggest challenge of Nuclear being cost and how to approach building differently A review of modular construction techniques and readiness levels Deployment timelines and how to make nuclear innovative How construction costs differ across country The market for exporting nuclear technologies and various factors that make it attractive The importance of fuel reliability, export control, and security considerations Canada's efforts on licensing advanced reactor technologies Floating Reactors, Micro Reactors, Autonomous Reactors

Episode Content: How Emma’s personal experiences abroad developed her interest in energy issues Her dual participation in both technical research and social advocacy How she got involved in Mothers for Nuclear and focus of Students for Nuclear She discusses the relationship between INL and the several local universities Developing a model in the nuclear fuel model simulator Cyclus Then we do a deep dive into Cyclus itself and Emma’s efforts to evolve this model to incorporate a hybrid energy ecosystem as well How she sees the role hybrid energy systems play in transforming the world She also shares with us  an amazing perspective on what happens holistically when we make energy cheaper

Episode Content: ​ The basics of fuel fabrication What it’s like to live in the community around and to work at a Nuclear Power plant A description of what happens when you reload fuel in a reactor His work with the Light Water Reactor sustainability program and how they design ways to extend the life of the existing fleet The function of the Advanced Test Reactor, the largest test reactor in the US The role that Small Modular Reactors play in the future of the nuclear power industry Nuscale’s efforts in commercializing SMR technology and INL’s role in hosting a demonstration version of this technology and others

Episode Content: Her fascinating entrance to the Nuclear field at an incredibly young age An overview of space nuclear reactors The wide variety of the different projects she’s participated in at INL She dives into energy availability intermittency and transmission Applying nuclear energy as an Industrial heat source, utilizing the steam for district heating, chemical process, water desalination, and how all this fits into broader energy ecosystem The many uses of hydrogen and how it can be integrated in a nuclear system Laboratory scale model validation of the worlds future integrated energy systems

Episode Content: How Hans became interested in nuclear energy An overview of the of pebble bed technology physics and materials How high temperature can be safer than low temperature The ups and downs of interest in the technology He explains need to build expertise, infrastructure, modeling and new regulations just to lay the foundation for commercializing new technologies Why even a 50MW pilot project is a large endeavor The role INL plays as an independent auditor and fuel qualifier He articulates the difference between pebblebed and prismatic reactors We wrap up with where Hans sees the future of Nuclear technology

In part 1 of  5 in our special INL series we interview John Wagner, the Associate Laboratory Director of the Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate. If you’re not familiar with the structure of the National lab hierarchy… that title is a big deal. In the first half of the episode we discuss:   John’s entrance into the field and early experience at Oak Ridge National Labs His expertise on developing new methods of understanding how radiation moves through matter He talks us through the basics of spent fuel management and a briefer on the status of Yucca Mountain. And in the second half we talk through the some of the facilities at INL John gives us an overview of the five different divisions that fall under the Nuclear Science Directorate including: “Domestic Programs”, “Nuclear Fuels and Materials” “Fuel Cycle Technologies” “Nuclear Systems and Analysis” and “Regulatory Safety” divisions What role the INL plays in advising the NRC The three buckets of Advanced Reactor Design and INL’s history in facilita

In this episode we interview Rachel Slaybaugh, who, before we were introduced, on three separate occasions was recommended as a must have on this program. She’s a professor at UC Berkeley, founder of the Nuclear boot camp which we’ll discuss shortly, and newest program director at ARPA-E. Today we discuss: - Rachel’s introduction to nuclear science and technical expertise - The genesis of the world’s first nuclear startup accelerator - The need to use computation thoughtfully to replace or supplement experiments - Her recent appointment as an Arpa-E program director and it’s focus on supporting enabling technologies such as robotics, sophisticated sensing, model-based fault detection, and secure networks

In this episode we interview Eric Loewen, a leading Nuclear Scientist whose current work involves leading General Electric’s efforts to deploy the integral fast reactor called PRISM. We discuss: His personal path through various nuclear institutions, work on climate change with congress, and current efforts GE’s role in America’s nuclear history A deep dive into the PRISM project and technology behind fast reactors We touch upon the the hormetic effect of radiation and the effects of low dose And where Eric sees the future of nuclear

In this episode we interview Todd Allen, one of the top U.S. experts in nuclear energy. Todd’s played a critical role in supporting the advancement of the next generation of nuclear technologies serving roles throughout our national lab system, in academia, the think-tank world and more. In this episode Todd’ reveals tremendous insights around: The function of our national lab system in prototyping reactors and creation of user facilities to revitalize innovation on this front Walking through various permutations of fuels, coolants, and approaches towards proving new technologies Turning points in the history of commercial nuclear development, here in the US and abroad, and the recent resurgence of nuclear excitement His contribution towards shaping policy at Thirdway, the clean energy think tank, and launching their first advanced nuclear summit. We talk about the concept of prize based incentives and how they might apply to the nuclear space Most importantly concrete steps how the can DOE restructure their

In this episode we interview Per Peterson, professor at one of UC Berkeley's Nuclear reactors groups. He’s the world expert on Fluoride Salt Cooled High Temperature reactors and a founder of Kairos Power, an Oakland, CA based nuclear startup, pursuing commercialization of that same technology. He has a lot of insight to share in this space including: The true cost drivers in plant construction and operations Civil nuclear energy from the perspective of non-proliferation Public misunderstandings around nuclear waste Theories around various safety design approaches Integral effects test facilities and their role in new reactor technology development How market failures make it challenging to develop new reactors Opportunities to borrow learnings from the success of the revitalization of the private space industry

In this episode we interview Michael Shellenberger who has been on the forefront of nuclear advocacy for over a decade. He’s the founder of Environmental Progress, a research and policy  organization, which in addition to putting together papers on Health and Safety, technology, innovation and economics also manages grassroots campaign efforts for preserving the existing Nuclear Fleet.   In this episode we discuss: Michael Shellenberger’s personal evolution from a solar to nuclear advocacy Common misconceptions around fukushima including the media’s role We touch on concepts such on technocentrism, human consciousness, even question energy inevitability, And then we review which arguments are more or less influential in readjusting the public's position

Host, Bret Kugelmass, introduces his nuclear energy themed podcast explaining his motivations around climate change.