Mark Nelson and I had so much to talk about, we had two hour+ calls on our energy crisis and nuclear power. This is the first one.
Mark is a former generation fellow at the Breakthrough Institute and was a senior analyst at Environmental Progress. He holds degrees in mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering. He is the founder and CEO of the Radiant Energy Group.Part 1 covers Mark’s origin story, the interesting and unique psychology of nuclear power, the historical link between nuclear weapons and energy, disentangling the physical accident at Chernobyl from the memes, Amory Lovins, nuclear regulations and incentives (good & bad), what the nuclear industry has gotten wrong, the nature of the professional opposition, nuclear medicine, what to do with nuclear waste, are plants built decades ago immortal, have we lost the capability to built large projects in the West and how could we regain it, de-industrialization vs re-industrialization, energy storage, and much more.
And there’s just as much in part 2, including potential solutions to the crisis, small modular reactors (SMRs), advanced reactor designs, fusion, Canada’s CANDUs, the energy crisis worldwide and in Europe and which countries are most screwed, coal and gas, etc.
🎧 Listen on Spotify
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🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
Here’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:
📺 Watch on YouTube
📃 Full transcript
🎧 Update: Part 2 is here!
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Further reading by the Radiant Energy Group 📄📄
Life Extension and Restoration of Germany’s Reactors. Can it Be Done?
State of Nuclear Energy Support in the UK and its Driving Forces
More of my writings on Nuclear ☢️⚡️🔌
☢️ Rebranding nuclear power? How can we fight the double standard? ☢️
☢️ ‘The Energy of Tomorrow: The Promise, Failure, and Possible Rebirth of Nuclear Power’ ☢️
On December 31st, 2021: ‘Germany pulled the plug on three of its last six nuclear plants’ 🤦♀️
NuScale: US regulator will certify small nuclear reactor design for first time ☢️🇺🇸
‘UK to put nuclear power at heart of net zero emissions strategy’, Nuclear Power Edition
Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 1 of 2) 🔌⚡️💡