Titans Of Nuclear | Interviewing 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...

Jeff Harper, VP of Strategy at X-Energy, shares his journey from NRC vendor inspector to innovator in nuclear technology. He discusses the balance between safety and cost, and the revolutionary pebble bed reactor's benefits, including its meltdown-proof design. Harper highlights X-Energy's advanced TRISO fuel technology and the potential of high-temperature nuclear for water desalination. He also addresses the regulatory challenges facing new nuclear technologies in the U.S. and the importance of bridging the expertise gap in the industry.

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 facilitating R&D He talks us through the concept of transients and how INL tests them We touch upon a topic that's very important to me, Energy Abundance And we close out with a glimpse into some of the future work INL and John's perspective into the promise of Nuclear Energy on the whole.

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