Titans Of Nuclear | Interviewing The World Experts On Nuclear Energy

1) Robin Manley explains how OPG has shifted its small modular reactor (SMR) deployment strategy  2) The final three contenders for Canada’s first SMR build  3) How the CNSC is integrated into preliminary design analysis & operating plant monitoring  4) Looking at future advanced reactor & microreactor possibilities in Ontario

1) Cesare Frepoli reflects on how & why he continued to pursue a nuclear engineering career in the aftermath of Chernobyl  2) The role of integrated test facilities in new nuclear plant safety analyses  3) How the licensing and certification process is evolving and adapting to another dimension of nuclear power  4) Keys to building a company and a team focused on complex, technically challenging projects

1. Matt’s early career working in blogging and launching Vox 2. Matt’s newest project, Slow Boring, and his recent piece on nuclear power  3. Differences in regulatory structures between nuclear energy and other heavily regulated sectors 4. Opportunities for new nuclear development around the world 

1) Ian Hore-Lacy remembers how his book “Nuclear Electricity” came about 40 years ago  2) The current state of Australia’s energy infrastructure & its stance on nuclear power  3) Comparing 1960s nuclear power plant construction & ways small modular reactors can improve production cost  4) The future of nuclear in Australia

1. Lonnie's career as an electrical worker and early involvement in the IBEW 2. The IBEW's role representing workers both at the local and federal level 3. Lonnie's recent op-ed on the importance of nuclear energy  4. Lonnie's role as an advisor to the presidential transition team 

1. Robert’s early introduction to nuclear energy and thorium reactors  2. Robert’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed and the linear no-threshold hypothesis  3. A look at Thorcon’s concept of building a small modular reactor (SMR) using shipbuilding techniques 4. Thorcon’s plans to deploy an SMR in Indonesia

1) Adrian Bull’s journey through the nuclear industry, from modeling and research to communications  2) How Adrian worked with Japanese leadership to rethink communication strategies – direct & indirect - after Fukushima  3) The process of building & maintaining a nuclear cultural heritage in the UK’s communities  4) Ways to maximize the supply chain in the UK to support the rollout of new nuclear

1) Laura Leay breaks down how inactive versions of high-level nuclear waste are used to study & improve processes  2) Ways that knowledge exchange programs can be used to build up a facility’s resume to support long-term projects  3) Technological, generational, and behavioral changes inside the nuclear industry   4) How familiarity impacts perception and how to bring familiarity to nuclear energy

1) Mark Nelson looks at the breakdowns in the nuclear industry today & how attracting top talent can change the course 2) The danger and potential consequences of over-optimization in nuclear power plant design  3) Mark shares how he made his viral graph comparing CO2 emissions of France and Germany  4) Why fully operational, paid-for, carbon-free nuclear plants are getting shut down around the world & how to make an impact

1) Austin Lo walks through the process of thermionic energy conversion and why General Motors got involved in nuclear reactor research in the 1960s  2) Benefits & challenges of thermionics for space nuclear power applications  3) A comparison of how nuclear R&D has evolved over time and alongside regulatory changes  4) Expanding nuclear innovation to cultural growth, discovery, and new inventions

1) How the UK nuclear market has shifted from decommissioning to new builds and the current state of the industry  2) Why fully-functioning nuclear reactors require design changes when crossing international borders into new regulatory requirements  3) Allan Carson’s path to the World Nuclear Association to pursue international cooperation in reactor design 4) Plans for a future with regulatory collaboration and the direct impacts to clean energy & climate change  

1) Jay Wileman explains how the GE and Hitachi partnership started and how it’s evolved over the years  2) A breakdown of the five different value streams GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy brings to its customers  3) Advantages of the up-and-coming BWRX-300 reactor in the global nuclear space  4) Why keeping and maintaining existing nuclear plants is key to achieving climate goals

1) Why bringing manufacturing back to the UK is critical for controlling emissions 2) Paul Nevitt walks through how his early chemistry linked to nuclear through UK’s defense sector study of actinides 3) Role of the National Nuclear Laboratory in driving collaboration towards achieving climate goals 4) A spotlight on some feature projects at the Nuclear Innovation Research Office

1) The story of how Jeremy Gordon stumbled into editing Nuclear Engineering International Magazine with zero background in nuclear  2) Jeremy’s transition to the World Nuclear Association and how he built World Nuclear News  3) Fukushima as a case study for how to communicate about a developing emergency situation at a nuclear power plant  4) Why creating alliances and collaboration with outside sectors is key to salvaging the nuclear industry’s social license

1) How Callum Thomas identified the human resources need in the nuclear industry, leading to the startup of his organization, Thomas Thor  2) Challenges and opportunities in finding and recruiting skilled personnel into the global nuclear workforce  3) Ways Thomas Thor is advocating for the nuclear industry and encouraging people to do independent research and come to their own conclusions about the technology  4) Why diversity and inclusion is key to successful collaboration and execution of nuclear projects and, on a bigger scale, achieving net-zero

1. How Fiona Reilly’s nuclear career started as a commercial lawyer visiting a nuclear power plant during a refueling outage  2. The key to building future nuclear projects through a combination of risk sharing and profit sharing  3. How technology parks, medical isotopes, and fusion can play an important role in UK’s leveling up economic agenda  4. Considerations for financing energy projects and a breakdown of early project development costs

1) What led Jason Crawford to make the jump from Silicon Valley to a focus on the history of technology and philosophy of progress  2) How Jason got into writing and connected with some of his favorite economic historians through a viral post on the invention of the bicycle  3) The critical events that strangled nuclear energy progress in its early years and a look at the bottlenecks it faces today 4) A sneak peek of Jason’s book, Roots of Progress, and a call to action to pay it forward to future generations through technological advancement

1) Lindsay Morton reflects on how she discovered the field of epidemiology and how it satisfied her love for math, biology, and research  2) How the National Cancer Institute contributes to global cancer research and a look at the projects they pursue internally  3) Why studying the impacts of radiation on the human body is so complex and some of the testing methodologies and biometrics used  4) A review of past and ongoing cancer studies related to the Chernobyl incident and how it informs data in new incidents, like at Fukushima 

1. Dr. Chanock's early career in medicine, dedicating his work to cancer research  2. The National Cancer Institute's role within the National Institute of Health and why they decided to pursue studies on Chernobyl 3. A deep dive into the NCI's two most recent studies on Chernobyl, the largest of their kind  4. A look at the results of those studies and their larger applications for public health

1. Andrzej's early career leading the startup of Poland's Maria research reactor 2. His work at the IAEA and experiences traveling to plants around the world  3. Lessons learned about the safety of nuclear power plants from the Fukushima accident 4. Andrzej's belief's around changing the approach to the effects of small doses of radiation