Podcasts about american nuclear society

The artificial intelligence boom and its hunger for electricity has brought a surge of interest in nuclear power. Microsoft, for instance, made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, while Google and Amazon have invested in companies developing small, modular reactors. The Joe Biden administration’s Department of Energy aims to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, but the sector will need a lot more workers to make that happen. By some estimates there’s a gap of more than 200,000 jobs to fill over the next decade. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Craig Piercy, CEO of the American Nuclear Society, to learn more about the hunt for talent.

The artificial intelligence boom and its hunger for electricity has brought a surge of interest in nuclear power. Microsoft, for instance, made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, while Google and Amazon have invested in companies developing small, modular reactors. The Joe Biden administration’s Department of Energy aims to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, but the sector will need a lot more workers to make that happen. By some estimates there’s a gap of more than 200,000 jobs to fill over the next decade. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Craig Piercy, CEO of the American Nuclear Society, to learn more about the hunt for talent.

The artificial intelligence boom and its hunger for electricity has brought a surge of interest in nuclear power. Microsoft, for instance, made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, while Google and Amazon have invested in companies developing small, modular reactors. The Joe Biden administration’s Department of Energy aims to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, but the sector will need a lot more workers to make that happen. By some estimates there’s a gap of more than 200,000 jobs to fill over the next decade. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Craig Piercy, CEO of the American Nuclear Society, to learn more about the hunt for talent.

The artificial intelligence boom and its hunger for electricity has brought a surge of interest in nuclear power. Microsoft, for instance, made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, while Google and Amazon have invested in companies developing small, modular reactors. The Joe Biden administration’s Department of Energy aims to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, but the sector will need a lot more workers to make that happen. By some estimates there’s a gap of more than 200,000 jobs to fill over the next decade. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Craig Piercy, CEO of the American Nuclear Society, to learn more about the hunt for talent.

The HiddenRef https://hidden-ref.org in the UK is an initiative to push for considering a wider range of research outputs than publications, e.g. software and data. The members of the initiative organised an event on 21 September 2023 to bring together academic institutions, funders and publishers. The aim is to increase the amount of non-publication output for the next research assessment in the UK in 2028. https://hidden-ref.org/festival-of-hidden-ref/ The HiddenREF festival pageIn this episode I spoke to a number of participants and presenters. In order of appearance;James Baker, director of digital humanities at Southampton UniversitySteven Hill, director of research at Research EnglandGuillaume Wright, publisher at https://f1000.com F1000Tony Roche HiddenRef committee member and director at https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com Emerald publishingEmma Karoume, community manager at the https://www.turing.ac.uk Alan Turing Institute in LondonSimon Hettrick, chair of the https://hidden-ref.org HiddenRef and deputy directory of the Software Sustainability Institute https://www.software.ac.ukThis episode is sponsored by F1000.F1000, part of Taylor & Francis Group, is an scholarly open research publisher offering a unique publication model designed to ensure all research outputs are as accessible, usable and reusable as possible, thus accelerating the impact of that research. F1000 works in partnership with many research funders, institutions and societies across the globe, including the European Commission, Wellcome, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Nuclear Society, to develop bespoke publishing solutions to help them to achieve their open research ambitions. F1000 also has its own portfolio of open research publishing venues available to researchers from across all disciplines who wish to publish all research outputs openly, including F1000Research, Routledge Open Research, Open Research Africa and Health Open Research. Find out more at https://f1000.com. Support the Show.Thank you for listening and your ongoing support. It means the world to us! Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/codeforthought Get in touch: Email mailto:code4thought@proton.me UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie US RSE Slack (usrse.slack.com): @Peter Schmidt Mastadon: https://fosstodon.org/@code4thought or @code4thought@fosstodon.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Dr. Howard Hall is the Director for the UT Institute for Nuclear Security. He holds a joint appointment with Consolidated Nuclear Security (Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN, and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX), and serves as Professor in both the Department of Nuclear Engineering and the Bredesen Center For Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. Professor Hall is also a Senior Fellow in Global Security Policy at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee.Professor Hall received his Ph.D. in Nuclear and Radiochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989; and his BS in Chemistry from the College of Charleston in 1985. Prior to joining UT, Dr. Hall spent more than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California, where he led major scientific and operational missions in nuclear and homeland security. During his tenure at LLNL, Dr. Hall led efforts supporting US Government programs in aviation safety and security, nuclear threat detection and nuclear emergency response.In 2005, Dr. Hall was part of the team awarded the Department of Homeland Security/Science and Technology Directorate Under Secretary's Award for Science. Professor Hall is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, and holds the rank of Fellow in the American Institute of Chemists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show

Cal is the co-founder and CTO of an energy and governance company, Signal Power and Light, with coal mining operations in Northern Alabama and a special governmental zone, ZEDE, in Honduras, ZEDE Orquídea. Cal's work in governance and energy as a means of addressing global poverty stemmed from his early economic work connecting statistical physics to economics, which has been completed with The Quantum Foundations of Utility and Value. Cal is an accidental engineer, choosing nuclear engineering on a whim because it was hard and seemed interesting. He served 10-years in the nuclear Navy driving submarines, finishing his last tour as the Engineer Officer on the USS Florida (SSGN-728).   Before leaving the Navy, Cal became interested in climate change after watching An Inconvenient Truth. Confused as to why nuclear was not featured prominently, he modeled a nuclear buildout using Small Modular Reactors to repower existing coal stations and then using the nuclear heat to drive Coal to Liquid synthetic fuels. He presented this to the American Nuclear Society in 2010, The Impact of Small Modular Reactors in a Carbon Constrained Economy, and attempted to patent the technology, but later found that there were already many similar patents from the 1970's. He even tried to pitch the idea to the coal industry in 2012, but it fell on deaf ears.   Thinking that he was on to something and seeing policy as a major hurdle in preventing a nuclear buildout, he went to Georgia Tech to learn more about public policy and to see if he could find a solution, which he managed to do. His doctoral work created the conceptual design of a sodium fast reactor with thermal energy storage replacing the intermediate loop. He showed that by marrying the two technologies, we separate the kinetics of the energy demand from the reactor kinetics (reactor safety) and can confine the regulator's warrant to just the nuclear island. 7-months after defending his dissertation, TerraPower took the concept and in October 2018 began detailed engineering of what was to become Natrium. While at Georgia Tech, and in response to Fukushima, Cal suggested to the world that we use concrete pump trucks to refill the spent fuel pools instead of helicopters.   Cal's current work is revitalizing and adapting the Karrick Process to the swelling coals of the Eastern United States, his company has finished the conceptual design of the pilot facility and will start construction in the near future and hopes that one day he will be able to marry this technology with a nuclear reactor. He has also extended his theoretical economic work and shown the relationship of energy and value with Bitcoin (soon to be published) and for the entire US economy (unpublished). Having developed actual technologies that increase energy access and reduce carbon intensity, he sees the entire global warming policy complex as a scam to give away tax dollars and create fake assets for traders to manipulate.   Coal is not the enemy, bad policy and insufficient energy access are. https://twitter.com/cal_abel https://www.signalpowerandlight.com/en/ https://www.signalpowerandlight.com/team/cal-abel/ Cal Abel on the Decouple Media podcast: https://youtu.be/fwacuS1Dy3I ========= About Tom Nelson: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL89cj_OtPeenLkWMmdwcT8Dt0DGMb8RGR Twitter: https://twitter.com/tan123 Substack: https://tomn.substack.com/ About Tom: https://tomn.substack.com/about

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is Chris Gadomski, Lead Nuclear Analyst at BloombergNEF and adjunct assistant professor at NYU's Centre for Global Affairs. Chris joined Michael to discuss the unfolding situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which sits on the frontline of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and whose safety is a matter of mounting international concern.Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup Links and Related EpisodesWatch Episode 119 with Aneeqa Khan here: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep-119-dr-aneeqa-khan-fusion-energy-the-materials-challenge/Watch Episode 133 with Fatih Birol here: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep133-fatih-birol-the-worlds-preeminent-energy-economist/#:~:text=Fatih%20has%20been%20in%2Dpost,efficiency%20and%20net%2Dzero%20pathways.Read the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) July 7th update on the situation at Zaporizhzhia: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-172-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraineThe IAEA's rolling updates on nuclear safety and security in Ukraine can be found here:https://www.iaea.org/nuclear-safety-and-security-in-ukraineThe New York Times on the evidence that Russia sabotaged Kakhovka Dam: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/16/world/europe/ukraine-kakhovka-dam-collapse.htmlPolitico on Ukraine's warnings of nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia: https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-warn-disaster-russia-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant/ Guest BioChris was appointed to lead New Energy Finance's nuclear analysis team in 2008, which provides global analysis on critical topics from within the nuclear industry. Chris spent most of the previous three decades at SMIdirect as a business development and marketing consultant. There he advised a wide range of clients from the Government of Egypt to IBM on strategic planning, business development, corporate communications and policy initiatives. Chris is a faculty member of the Centre for Global Affairs at New York University where he teaches courses on Energy Policy, Energy and the Environment, and the Economics and Finance of Energy. Chris holds a BA from College of the Holy Cross, an MS from NYU's Polytechnic School of Engineering and an MBA from Baruch College. Chris is a member of the United States Energy Association and the American Nuclear Society.

Dr. Rita Baranwal, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of the Energy Systems business unit of Westinghouse Electric Company, which is the nuclear power unit of Westinghouse, where her core focus is in leading the team developing and deploying their AP300 Small Modular Nuclear Reactor ( https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/Portals/0/about-2020/leadership/WEC_Bio_Dr._Rita_Baranwal_JUL22.pdf ). Dr. Baranwal recently served Chief Technology Officer of the organization, where she led the company's global research and development investments, spearheading their technology strategy to advance the company's nuclear innovation, and drove next-generation solutions for existing and new markets. Dr. Baranwal's appointment to this CTO role in 2022 marked a return to Westinghouse where she worked for nearly a decade in leadership positions in the Global Technology Development, Fuel Engineering, and Product Engineering groups. Prior to rejoining Westinghouse, Dr. Baranwal served as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy where she directed the R&D portfolio across current and advanced nuclear technologies while collaborating across nuclear utilities, national labs, reactor developers, academia and government stakeholders. She has also held senior leadership roles with the Idaho National Laboratory as Director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN), and most recently was the Chief Nuclear Officer and Vice President of Nuclear for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Prior to joining Westinghouse, Dr. Baranwal was a manager in Materials Technology at Bechtel Bettis, Inc. where she led and conducted R&D in advanced nuclear fuel materials for US Naval Reactors. Dr. Baranwal is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society. She has a bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in materials science and engineering and a master's degree and Ph.D. in the same disciplines from the University of Michigan. Support the show

Matt Wald has been writing about the energy and power sectors for decades, including 38 years as a reporter at the New York Times. In this episode, Wald talks about his recent articles for the American Nuclear Society on the nuclear fuel “Gordian knot,” why the U.S. quit enriching uranium and in doing so, empowered Russia, SMRs, HALEU, and why he believes the federal government will have to step in to assure long-term supplies of nuclear fuel for the domestic fleet of reactors. (Recorded May 25, 2023.)   

Dr. Kathryn Huff, Ph.D. ( https://www.energy.gov/ne/person/dr-kathryn-huff ) is Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, where she leads their strategic mission to advance nuclear energy science and technology to meet U.S. energy, environmental, and economic needs, both realizing the potential of advanced technology, and leveraging the unique role of the government in spurring innovation. Prior to her current role, Dr. Huff served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary and also led the office as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Before joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Huff was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she led the Advanced Reactors and Fuel Cycles Research Group. She was also a Blue Waters Assistant Professor with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Dr. Huff was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow in both the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium and the Berkeley Institute for Data Science at the University of California - Berkeley. She received her PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Chicago. Her research focused on modeling and simulation of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel cycles. Dr. Huff is an active member of the American Nuclear Society, a past Chair of the Nuclear Nonproliferation and Policy Division as well as the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division, and recipient of both the Young Member Excellence and Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women's Achievement awards. Through leadership within Software Carpentry, SciPy, the Hacker Within, and the Journal of Open Source Software she also advocates for best practices in open, reproducible scientific computing. Dr. Huff's book "Effective Computation in Physics: Field Guide to Research with Python" can be found on all major book sellers. Support the show

The Power Hour is a weekly podcast that discusses the most interesting energy and environmental policy issues with top national experts. In this week's episode, hosts Jack Spencer, Travis Fisher and Rachael Wilfong talk with Craig Piercy, nuclear energy policy expert and CEO of the American Nuclear Society. We carry forward our nuclear energy conversation this week […]

The Power Hour is a weekly podcast that discusses the most interesting energy and environmental policy issues with top national experts. In this week's episode, hosts Jack Spencer, Travis Fisher and Rachael Wilfong talk with Craig Piercy, nuclear energy policy expert and CEO of the American Nuclear Society. We carry forward our nuclear energy conversation this week with deep dives on nuclear safety and regulation. If you want to know the truth about nuclear energy safety and how the industry is regulated, you don't want to miss this one. As always, don't forget to shoot us an email at thepowerhour@heritage.org to let us know your thoughts about the podcast, what you want to hear about, and who you'd like us to have as a guest!Listen to other Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agendaListen to podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennie Brooks, host of the Unstoppable Together podcast chats with Dr. Christina Leggett. Dr. Leggett is a Booz Allen associate and the lead engineer for the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Tune in as they discuss diverse representation in the nuclear industry, what Dr. Leggett is doing to advance that representation today, and why her 2022 Black Engineer of the Year award is so meaningful. You can learn more about the nuclear industry and a few of the organizations that Dr. Leggett mentions on the podcast by visiting: The American Nuclear Society: ans.org The World Nuclear Association: world-nuclear.org The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: nrc.gov The Nuclear Energy Institute: nei.org

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K433: The Future of California's Last Nuclear Power Plant   At a gathering of nuclear professionals and enthusiasts in Anaheim, California, a couple of months ago, the tenor of the conversations about the Diablo Canyon Power Plant — California's last operating nuclear reactor — turned inconceivably hopeful. 數月前，在加州安那罕一場核專業人士與愛好者的聚會上，關於加州最後一座正在運行的核電廠魔鬼谷電廠的討論基調，變得不可思議地充滿希望。 The American Nuclear Society's convention, held for four days in the shadow of Mickey Mouse, could not have picked a better venue to uplift spirits. And no one flashed a bigger grin than Gene Nelson, a standout not just for his towering height but also for his signature headbands and his yearslong campaign to keep Diablo Canyon running beyond a planned shutdown by the end of 2025. 這場在米老鼠陰影下舉行4天的美國核子學會大會，沒有比這更好的地方來振奮精神。沒有人比吉恩．尼爾森笑得更開心了。他引人注目，不只因為高大的身材，還有他的招牌髮帶，以及他多年來一直努力，希望讓預計2025年底關閉的魔鬼谷電廠能持續運轉。 “I thought our chances were zero,” Nelson, a government liaison for Californians for Green Nuclear Power, told the conference attendees about the effort to maintain nuclear power in the state. “What has happened since then, it's been like a snowball.” 尼爾森是「加州人挺綠色核能」組織的政府聯絡員，他向與會者報告加州維持核能的行動說：「我還以為我們沒機會了，從那之後發生的事情就像滾雪球一樣。」 Pushing that snowball is Gov. Gavin Newsom. Although it seemed improbable that Diablo Canyon's supporters could overcome the numerous challenges to maintain the plant's operations, a lot has changed and those hurdles appear to be getting swallowed up in the growing clean energy movement. 推動這個雪球的是州長紐森。儘管魔鬼谷的支持者似乎不太可能克服眾多挑戰來維持電廠運作，但很多事情已發生變化，而且那些障礙顯然正被日益增長的清潔能源運動消除。 Last month, Newsom proposed a measure that would provide a forgivable loan of $1.4 billion to the plant's owner to help resolve permitting, licensing and cost issues. The California Assembly would need to pass the legislation and have it signed in September to make the whole idea possible. 上個月，紐森提出一項措施，將向電廠擁有者提供14億美元可免除貸款，幫忙解決許可、發照及成本問題。加州議會將必須透過這項立法，並於9月簽署，才能讓整個想法成為可能。 In addition, the U.S. Energy Department made $6 billion available to nuclear plant owners to help keep existing facilities operating. 此外，美國能源部向核電廠擁有者提供60億美元，協助維持現有設施運作。 Gunda presented during a public conversation last month about the prospect of continuing the operations at Diablo, which produces about 9% of the state's electricity. 上月一次公開談話中，加州能源委員會成員之一席瓦．岡達談及魔鬼谷繼續運作的前景。魔鬼谷發電量約占該州發電量的9%。 Even authors of a Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology report supporting the extension of Diablo Canyon noted that one of the two units had to be taken offline in 2020, the last time California experienced rolling blackouts. That has prompted some to urge caution. 就連史丹福大學和麻省理工學院一份支持魔鬼谷延役報告的作者也指出，兩座機組其中之一在2020年必須停機時，就是加州最近一次經歷輪流停電之時。這促使一些人呼籲要謹慎行事。 “I was a little bit heartbroken by the governor's proposal,” said Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California who has inspected many nuclear plants throughout the world. “The word safety is only mentioned once in passing. They really need to bend over backward and go the extra mile to ensure the safety and reliability issues.” 曾赴世界許多核電廠視察的南加大工程學教授納吉米丁．梅許卡蒂說：「州長的提議讓我有點心碎。安全這個字只順便提到一次。他們真的必須盡力且付出更多努力，來確保安全性和可靠性的問題。」Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6584967

Are you scared of Nuclear Energy? And when you read the title, the first image or thought that came to your mind was Chernobyl, or maybe Fukushima? Well, there is a lot of misinformation out there about the subject of Nuclear Energy. So, today we'll be talking about the misinformation and educating ourselves on the subject with my interview with Nuclear Energy expert Steven Curtis. So, without further ado, let's get into it.   Go to www.thestandard.academy/magazine to become one of the first to get my digital magazine for free that'll help you create a kick-ass life.   Mr. Curtis was a 38-year resident of Nevada with a close association with the spent nuclear fuel issue and a 15-year career with the DOE-NV. He attended his first Yucca Mountain meeting in 1981 and has been associated with the project academically and educationally ever since. As a student employee, Mr. Curtis was employed at the whole-body radiation counter for people at the Environmental Protection Agency campus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He began his tenure at DOE-NV as a project and operations officer for the Soviet Verification Program. After the testing program ended, he was recruited into a nuclear emergency response where he served as a nuclear technical team leader for Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) and Radiological Consequence Management Teams associated with the Federal Radiological Management and Assessment (FRMAC) emergency management interagency nuclear response posture. He concurrently served as a program manager in such programs as NEST Research and Development, the Non-proliferation experiment, the Aerial Measuring System, the National Center for Counter-Terrorism (NCCT), and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Project Omega deployment to Kazakhstan in support of conventional explosives in the Deglin Mountain Soviet testing tunnels.   Mr. Curtis served in both the active duty Army and the Nevada National Guard for a combined 11 years as an Armor officer and strategic communications expert. He was responsible for all Army communications strategic testing throughout the European and Middle-East major commands. His tactical experience includes a rotation at the National Training Center as an Armor Company Commander and 7 years as a staff officer and company commander in the 1/221 Armor Battalion in Las Vegas.   After departing the DOE, he was engaged in development and integration work at UNLV and Desert Research Institute (DRI) in areas of national security. As proposal manager, he led the successful team in Nevada to secure the FAA designation as an FAA National UAS Test Site. He currently works as a subject matter expert and senior consultant to Readiness Resource Group in areas of training, exercise, counterterrorism, local responder emergency management, nuclear technology, and health physics. He has served as President of the Nevada sections of both the Health Physics Society and the American Nuclear Society and is currently working under a small grant from the American Nuclear Society Operations and Power Division to develop and conduct educational seminars in Nevada for the public and for Government Officials.   He holds a BSEE and a Master's Degree in Health Physics, both from UNLV. Mr. Curtis has been active in STEM activities for schools as a 27-year volunteer coordinator for the High School Science Bowl, Co-founder of Skybot Challenge, an engineering-based competition for students in 3-D robotics (UAS), and a consistent speaker in the Clark County School District classrooms to encourage students to find their passion through continued education.   You can reach Mr. Curtis here: curtis@readinessresource.net https://wastetoenergynow.org +1 702-219-6463   A bit about me (Dr. Orest Komarnyckyj): Dr. Orest Komarnyckyj enjoyed a prestigious career as a periodontal regenerative surgeon moving to a new passion in June 2018. He retired after a 33-year career to pursue new passions. At 69 Dr. Orest has taken on a new role as an Interviewer, Podcaster and government-certified Old Guy. He streams from his new home in Las Vegas, NV. He lives with his wife of 29 years, Oksana. His status as an empty-nesters with two out of college-employed children has left him with time and energy to share decades of successes, failures, and wisdom.   Timestamps: 00:00 Precap 01:24 Intro 02:33 Guest introduction 04:25 Let's deal with big fears people have 08:28 How efficient is nuclear energy in producing energy? 10:16 Can the uranium that has been used in the old-style reactors can be recycled as fuel in the new ones? 11:53 Is there any shortage of spent uranium at this point? 13:31 Countries that rely on nuclear power 14:20 What kind of footprint does a small reactor have in comparison to a nuclear power plant? 16:45 Are there any grid issues that are alleviated because of the number of reactors that are in such close proximity? 20:18 Commercial 20:52 Commercial ends/Small nuclear reactors traveling around the world on Navy ships 23:25 Windmills as the power source 26:10 Challenge with electric cars 28:45 Limitation of solar and windmills 30:52 Biggest challenge to fully embracing nuclear power in the United States 36:45 Getting in touch with Steve 40:00 Closing thoughts 40:55 Outro

In this episode I'm starting to explore another interesting scientific topic that has recently made a big media splash—nuclear fusion.  For decades the promise of nuclear fusion has been held out as the ultimate in clean energy sources—the same energy as the sun, with no transuranic radioactive waste stream.  Just fusing hydrogen together to make helium and boundless energy.  The problem is that it is very difficult to simulate the sun.  Even in the core of the sun where temperatures are measured in millions of degrees, and the pressure is higher than anywhere in the solar system, fusion is not a fast or efficient process.  I guess that's good for us.  If it were the sun would rapidly burn out in a huge supernova.  As it is, the sun will happily burn hydrogen for about 10 billion years before it starts running short. A proton in the core of the sun can bounce around freely for billions of years without ever getting fused to another proton.  It is this challenge that researchers on earth have been trying to solve for the past 50 years, without much success. Today I'm going to be interviewing a team of researchers working on this problem to find out just how close we are to practical fusion. Omar Hurricane is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Omar received a Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA in 1994, staying on as post-doc until 1998. Omar is a Designer at LLNL, working on topics of stockpile stewardship and High Energy Density Physics, and became Chief Scientist for the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program. In 2009, Omar was awarded the U.S. Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for National Security and Nonproliferation. Omar became a Fellow of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics in 2016 and in 2021 was awarded the Edward Teller award and medal from the American Nuclear Society for leading efforts to obtain fuel gain, alpha heating, and a burning plasma in the laboratory. Dr. Alex Zylstra received his bachelor's degree from Pomona College in 2009 and his Ph.D. in plasma physics from MIT in 2015. From there he joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Reines Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow working on developing novel inertial fusion concepts. He joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2018 as the experimental lead for the “Hybrid E” campaign, which subsequently produced the first laboratory burning and ignited plasmas. Follow me at www.therationalview.ca Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #fusion #ignition #laserfusion 

Mark Nelson is the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, which advises governments, nonprofits, and industry about nuclear energy.    Mark works tirelessly to prevent early closures of nuclear plants around the world a nd has attended the UN climate conference in Glasgow as a delegate from the American Nuclear Society. His efforts span the globe, working to save nuclear plants from Germany to California.    Mark holds an MPhil in Nuclear Engineering from Cambridge University and degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Russian Language and Literature from Oklahoma State University.   In this episode, Mark and Aaron discuss the differences between France & Germany, the complexity of the US electric grid, and reasons for hope.   Mark Nelson's Challenge; Find out where you get your power from, what nuclear plants are nearby, and communicate to politicans that you don't want them shut down.   Connect with Mark Nelson Linkedin Twitter Website If you liked this interview, check out our past episodes w/ Dr. Rita Baranwal about nuclear energy and the government and Doomberg about coming shortages of food and energy. Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative makes creating podcasts, vlogs, and videos easy.    How? Click here and Learn more.   We work with Fortune 500s, medium-sized companies, and entrepreneurs.   Follow Piper as we grow YouTube Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | Spotify

American Nuclear Society: https://www.ans.org/response/ Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donations/ways-to-donate.html The American Nuclear Society is keeping an eye on the situation with the nuclear power plants involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Rock Logic will keep you updated as we learn more. Please consider donating to the American Nuclear Society or Red Cross to assist Ukrainian citizens caught in the conflict. Check out our community tab for channel updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/RockLogicWithSeanKenny/community Rock Logic now has merch!! Check it out at http://rocklogicwithseankenny.com/shop/ Contact us on social media or here on our website: http://rocklogicwithseankenny.com/contact-us/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/rocklogic/ Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1014751 Twitter: https://twitter.com/RockLogic1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rocklogicwithseankenny Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocklogicseankenny/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rocklogicwithseankenny? ======================== Want an audio-only experience on the go? Check us out on other platforms: https://rocklogicwithseankenny.com/podcast-platforms/ Feeling generous? Help support the channel! Every dime we get goes towards production and marketing. https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/rocklogicseankenny https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2S6NDH333HVM2?ref_=wl_share Produced by Jessica Connel www.jessicaconnel.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rock-logic/support

From this week's show, American Nuclear Society's Steven Nesbit on some of the myths and misconceptions around nuclear energy safety.Hear the full conversation on the latest "EcoRight Speaks!" and make sure to subscribe/review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, etc.!!

Listeners ask so we always try and deliver. And this week we welcome American Nuclear Society's Steven Nesbit after a listener requested to hear from a nuclear engineer and expert. Steven joined host Chelsea Henderson to discuss the clean energy benefits of nuclear, myth busting some misconceptions around nuclear energy and why small modular reactors are so attractive. And he hits on so much more in a wide-ranging nuclear interview!Hear it all on "EcoRight Speaks!" and make sure to follow/subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, etc.!!

This week our trailblazers are two inspirational powerhouses creating a new set of possibilities around nuclear. Holly joins Kirsty Gogan, cofounder of Energy for Humanity and Managing Partner at LucidCatalyst, and Dr. Rita Baranwal, former Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, and now VP of nuclear at the Electric Power Research Institute to talk energy access, decarbonisation challenges and gender equality in the nuclear industry. ​In this compelling and utterly optimistic discussion, two formidable nuclear energy experts explain why nuclear is so often left out of the conversation and, more importantly, why we have no choice but to include it in the mix of transition fuels to get us to a net-zero future. Kirsty Gogan is an internationally sought-after advisor to governments, industry, academic networks, and NGOs and is a globally recognised expert in the fields of science communication, climate change, competitiveness, and innovation. With more than 15 years of experience as a senior advisor to the Government on climate and energy policy, including 10 Downing St, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Kirsty is blazing a trail for the clean energy revolution. Kirsty is managing partner of LucidCatalyst, a highly specialized international consultancy focused on large-scale, affordable, market-based decarbonization of the global economy, and chairs the UK Government’s Nuclear Innovation Research and Advisory Board (NIRAB) Cost Reduction Working Group. Her voluntary work includes having co-founded Energy for Humanity (EFH). She serves on the Board of Nuclear Innovation Alliance, as well as Voices for Nuclear. Dr. Rita Baranwal leads a team of more than 200 researchers, scientists, engineers, and technical staff who provide objective, science-based nuclear R&D to more than 80% of the world's commercial nuclear fleet.Rita served as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); for which role she was nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Dr. Baranwal led the office’s efforts to promote research and development (R&D) on existing and advanced nuclear technologies that sustain the existing U.S. fleet of nuclear reactors, enable the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems, and enhance the U.S.A.'s global commercial nuclear energy competitiveness.Prior to her current role, Dr. Baranwal directed the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative at Idaho National Laboratory. She was responsible for providing the nuclear industry and other stakeholders access to DOE's state-of-the-art R&D expertise, capabilities, and infrastructure to achieve faster and cost-effective development, demonstration, and ultimate deployment of innovative nuclear energy technologies. Under her leadership, GAIN positively impacted over 120 companies. Dr. Baranwal has served on Advisory Boards for MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory and UC Berkeley’s Nuclear Engineering Department, and also was adjunct faculty at University of South Carolina's nuclear engineering graduate program. She is a past Chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Nuclear Society's (ANS) Materials Science and Technology Division and has also served on the Boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters-Pittsburgh and North Hills Community Outreach. Useful links: Energy for Humanity Lucid Catalyst Voices for Nuclear GAIN U.S. Department of EnergySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research into recycling of nuclear fuel was shut down by Jimmy Carter's administration in the anti-nuclear movement of the ‘70's. The work has largely remained sidelined due to the fact that Uranium is abundant and cheap and the spent fuel is easy to store safely on-site.  Opponents of nuclear power, however, have latched on to the long lifetime of hazardous radioactive waste as a reason to oppose new nuclear developments.  In light of this situation, and the amount of Uranium we will need in coming years to displace fossil fuels, it makes sense to revisit recycling. Mr. Thomas Dolan has an aviation degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a FAA Commercially instrument rated pilot. Mr. Dolan joined Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) in 1986 and accumulated over 25 years experience in law enforcement. Mr. Dolan formed and was the CEO of Homeland Security Aviation & Maritime Services, Inc. (HSA) in 2002 wtih a group of technical experts, addressing idenfitication and measurement of radiation sources in response to the needs of the emergency response community. Tom is a current member of American Nuclear Society. Steven Curtis holds a masters degree in Health Physics and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE), both from UNLV. He worked on the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) and radiation consequence management missions for Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for 13 years, and was project manager in charge of the Aerial Measuring System (AMSr). Mr. Curtis held Battalion staff and Company Commander Positions as an officer in the Army and Nevada National Guard. He has supported National Security Technologies, LLC, as a consultant in support of the Nevada Test Site. He has worked with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) on several DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) architecture projects. Steve is a current member and past President of the  American Nuclear Society - Nevada Section. Follow me on https://therationalview.podbean.com Talk to the experts at https://facebook.com/groups/therationalview Insta: @the_rational_view Twitter: @AlScottRational #therationalview #podcast #nuclearenergy #greenenergy #atomicenergy #nuclearreactors #netzeroneedsnuclear #recycling #nuclearwaste #SMRs 

1) A look at Steven Arndt’s early studies in nuclear instrumentation & controls and probabilistic risk assessments 2) How the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has adapted to a changing industry over the years 3) What the regulation change or exemption process looks like for new reactor licensees  4) How the American Nuclear Society is working to get nuclear on a level playing field in the energy industry

1) What led Mary Lou to shift from teaching high school students to a joint appointment at Idaho National Labs and Idaho State University  2) Her work in South Africa at the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor 3) Mary Lou's involvement in the American Nuclear Society from member to president  4) The many applications of nuclear and opportunities it offers for the future 

The American Nuclear Society - https://www.ans.org/ Main Topic: 22:00 Join our Discord! - https://discord.gg/P6wz6Hcmhp YouTube Ep - https://youtu.be/FOhfsQx96H4 Website: http://strngaming.com/ Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/str-cast/id698012276 Music by n8bit Hosts: Cat McGuire, Sublyminality, Salvador Madrigal, Samson Lancaster Produced by Samson Lancaster

Nuclear is a word with numerous applications that mean wildly different things: nuclear family, nuclear bomb, nuclear war. In this episode, we chat about nuclear energy with Matthew Mairinger - a technical engineer at Ontario Power Generation and the Canadian Operating Officer at The North American Young Generation in Nuclear - and debunk some of the most common myths associated with it. Is it safe? What impact does it have on the environment? Is radiation something to be concerned about? Tune in to hear why there’s nothing forced about Matthew’s positivity over the future of nuclear energy.   Related Content & Links:  - Matthew Mairinger Twitter: @MattwithchipsLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-mairinger-p-eng-19524380/  - The North American Young Generation in Nuclear Twitter: @NA_YGNWebsite: https://naygn.org/   Transcript: Dan Seguin  00:02 Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the ThinkEnergy podcast. Nuclear is a word with numerous applications that mean wildly different things, nuclear family, nuclear bomb, nuclear war, and the Springfield nuclear power plant where someone like Homer Simpson seems to be the sole control room operator "d'oh". Nothing scary about that! When most people think of clean energy, they immediately conjure up images of solar panels, wind turbines, and hydro power. But how many of you also thought of nuclear reactors? The truth is nuclear power is often left out of the Clean Energy conversation despite it being the second largest source of low carbon electricity in the world. In fact, according to the American Nuclear Society, the third most popular myth about nuclear energy is that it's bad for the environment. But the reality is that nuclear reactors don't emit greenhouse gases. And over their lifetime, they have comparable emissions to wind and solar. Here in Canada, nuclear plants have been producing electricity since the early 1960s. And with 19 nuclear power reactors, mostly in Ontario, nuclear energy produces about 15% of the country's electricity. That's 13.5 gigawatts of electrical power capacity. Despite producing massive amounts of carbon free power, nuclear energy also produces more electricity on less land than any other clean air source. A typical 1000 megawatt nuclear facility will occupy approximately only one square mile for its operations. Recent estimates of the Canadian nuclear industry reveal that it employs approximately 30,000 people and creates another 30,000 indirect jobs through contracting. It also generates revenues of $6.6 billion and contributes $1.5 billion in federal and provincial taxes. So here's today's big question. What does the future of nuclear energy look like for the next generation? And how is Canada leading the way internationally with some exciting developments in nuclear technology? To help us better understand the role nuclear plays in Canada and the talented people behind the scenes, we have with us today, a nuclear engineer from the Ontario Power Generation, and the Canadian Operating Officer for the nonprofit organization, North American Young Generation in nuclear. I'm very pleased to have Matthew Mairinger on our show. Welcome, Matthew, could you maybe start by telling us a bit about yourself and what attracted you to the career in nuclear energy?   Matthew Mairinger  04:13 I guess I really got interested in nuclear in high school. It was just an essay that we got to do about any topic in science. I started looking into nuclear power. And I was just like, Wow, this is amazing the energy density, how it can fight climate change the medical isotopes we get from it so that really got me hooked. And from there, I went to University of Ontario Institute of Technology, where I studied nuclear engineering. I've been working full time at Ontario Power Generation at both the Darlington and Pickering nuclear stations ever since. And on the side I'm also a board of director with North American Young Generation Nuclear, Canadian Nuclear Association with the International Youth nuclear Congress. I'm also on the Energy Council of Canada as a young professional member. So lots of things, but it's all focused around energy and specifically nuclear,   Dan Seguin  05:09 Generally speaking, what important role does nuclear energy play in Canada? In your opinion? Why should Canada and other countries around the world continue investing in nuclear energy?   Matthew Mairinger  05:22 Yeah, so nuclear plays a huge role in Canada, and especially for Ontario. So nuclear technology, each year displaces 80 million tons of CO2 emissions, which is around 17 million cars. Also 70% of the world's supply of cobalt 60, which is used for cancer treatment, to sterilize medical equipment, to sterilize food and to do inspection of materials comes from Canada as well. So it's a huge portion of the world's cobalt 60. In terms of jobs and the economy, it contributes $17 billion to Canada's economy each year. And it has 76,000 direct and indirect jobs. So it's a lot of work behind the scenes. And it's a huge backbone of well paying stable jobs here in Canada. So why should other countries around the world continue investing? So really, it's to do with uranium and nuclear itself. So uranium 235, which is one of the isotopes that we use for nuclear fission, contains two to 3 million times the energy equivalent of oil or coal, so you're just getting so much more bang for your buck for that. And that means that it can use a much smaller land footprint, use less materials and produce less waste, it also has a huge capacity factor. So if you're looking at what's going to produce stable, dependable energy, it's really nuclear, which is over 90% capacity factor. So if we're looking to electrify the grid, we're looking to charge electric cars overnight. If we're looking to run hospitals reliably, you know, it's the nuclear facilities that have a 60 to 80 year lifespan, high dependability, high capacity factor. And if we look at the countries that have been able to decarbonize the fastest, so Sweden, France, United Arab Emirates, they've actually used nuclear to get there. So contrary to what people may think that nuclear takes a long time to build, to get going. It's really quick at decarbonizing countries.   Dan Seguin  07:30 Okay, Matthew, you're on the board of directors for the nonprofit organization, North American, young generation in nuclear. What is your organization's mandate? And what is it that you hope to provide the future nuclear enthusiasts and professionals like yourself?   Matthew Mairinger  07:50 Yes, so there's 50 young generation and nuclear organizations around the world. Typically, either countries or big organizations will have their own youth nonprofit group for NAYGN. It's all across North America. And really, we provide opportunities for young generation of nuclear enthusiasts to develop leadership and professional skills, create lifelong connections, engage and inform the public and inspire today's nuclear technology professionals to meet the challenges of the 21st century. So, so mouthful, really, we're trying to develop leaders to energize the future of nuclear. And we do that through professional development. So we put on facility tours, where members get to go see how the fuel is made, or what a research reactor looks like. We do work with Toastmasters. So to increase your public speaking abilities, we do community service, so we go out, we work with Habitat for Humanity, we work with other groups in the communities to give back as well. So we give them an avenue to give back to the community and also to put a positive spin on nuclear, but also young people as well. You know, there's this, this misconception that millennials are lazy, and we're this not the best type of group out there. So we're trying to fix that. We also do networking events. So again, just an avenue to get to know other people in the industry. So we'll do Blue Jays games, we'll go to sporting events. And we work on public information as well.   Dan Seguin  09:24 Maybe you can expand now on how your organization is working to be a source of science based information about applications of nuclear science and technology for use by the media, policymakers and the general public.   Matthew Mairinger  09:42 Yeah, so that's a huge backbone. So one of our board of directors is the public information officer. And so under that board seat, there's actually student education and government relations. So two separate committees that have a big focus for any NAYGN. So for student education, Each year we run a drawing contest. So we go to elementary schools, we have a different topic. So we'll talk to them about nuclear. And we'll get them engaged thinking about it. At high schools, we have an essay contest again. So just trying to make nuclear not a secret, not this unknown. You know, we're going to schools, we're talking about it. We actually developed our own children's books a couple years ago. So the first one is Marie's Electric adventure. And the second one, the sequel is George's energy adventure. So we bring that to schools, we do school readings. And really what we're trying to do is we're trying to talk about nuclear, in a friendly tone, we're trying to expose students at a younger age to think about it as a career to promote it as a stem opportunity as well. So just trying to debunk some of the myths out there, get them interested at an early age, for government relations, we do postcard push days. So we encourage our members to send postcards to Washington and Ottawa, we do rallies, we do stand up for nuclear, we participate in Clean Energy Ministerial United Nations Climate conferences, so really trying to advocate for nuclear from a nonprofit youth organization. So it's a little bit different than having company representatives there that we are in our free time, volunteers advocating for climate change.   Dan Seguin  11:27 Okay, Matthew, your organization recently signed a memorandum of understanding with electricity, Human Resources Canada. What can you tell us about the importance of this collaboration?   Matthew Mairinger  11:40 Yeah, being a youth nonprofit organization, we try to work with other organizations out there, we're not trying to create everything from scratch. So EHRC really has a huge network of not just nuclear groups, but clean energy groups, as well. So a lot of expertise out there that we could tap into. And really what it is, is they have a great focus for diversity. And they have a great focus for the young generation. So they've done specific surveys about young people across Canada in the electricity sector. So it made a lot of sense for us to share what we're doing with them. And then also for us to learn about what they're doing in the industry as well.   Dan Seguin  12:23 Now, your organization has also been an advocate and champion for diversity and inclusion within the nuclear sector. Can you maybe tell us about what it means to you and what it means to the nuclear industry.   Matthew Mairinger  12:41 So I think it was really, especially during COVID, and the events that happened around the world last year, that really brought diversity and inclusion to the forefront. And we saw a lot of the statements that were made across the electricity sector across other companies as well. And we want to make sure that when we said something as a board that we made it part of our long term strategic initiatives, it wasn't just a shallow statement that, you know, as soon as it went out of the public's attention span that it would go away. So every two years, we actually run our own career report, we send out survey questions to our members. And we found that the gender diversity was pretty close to the industry, but still lagging. So that's around 35% women, and the rest were men. So because of that, we also found that our diversity in terms of minorities and representation, were actually lagging in the industry. So this was kind of a shock to us. And we thought, as a nonprofit, we're doing really well on this. And really, we took a strong look at ourselves. And what we did was we had an external audit of our organization for diversity and inclusion. And really, they had a number of things that we could change. So, you know, we noticed that when we did our survey, we had a binary gender collection, so it was male or female. So we're going to change that going forward. We noticed when we had speakers, were we considering the diversity of the speakers. So that was another thing for us to self reflect on. We have a book club, where we choose diverse authors and diverse types of topics to discuss, our website -where the picture is being shown that it shows diverse and inclusive crowds, the video content, and this was really interesting. We didn't have captions on our videos. So we were actually, you know, a bias against muted viewing and hearing impaired. So again, just simple things like this, targeting our reach and amplifying NAYGN's diverse communities as well. So from that we started creating an unconscious bias webinar series. We had chapter recognition so we have awards now specifically to recognize diversity and inclusion at the chapter level, we're changing our nomination process or elections. And we actually signed on to existing types of initiatives. So that equal by 30, and then through EHRC's leadership accords, and we signed an MOU with women and nuclear and National Society of Black Engineers we're working on as well.   Dan Seguin  15:22 Now, Matthew, are you seeing a shift in what nuclear professionals care about? What are some of today's challenges for nuclear technology professionals?   Matthew Mairinger  15:34 Yeah, so I'd say young nuclear professionals today, they care more about that work-life balance, and especially now with COVID, we've seen that you know, the work from home, and having more flexible hours, that's a big thing. If you're taking care of a family, you want that flexibility. And we also see that a lot of the young nuclear professionals really care about the impact to the community. So what is that company doing to give back to the community? Are they involved in community outreach events? Are they involved in supporting local types of initiatives? So really, that's what we're starting to see more of a focus for the young professionals is, you know, they really want the company to reflect their values they want to have that are part of their core mandates. And some of the challenges right now, I'd say are the energy uncertainty right now. So, you know, nuclear does require an investment from the government. So if Pickering nuclear is shutting down, that is the uncertain future is what is the long term Energy Outlook going to look like? Will there be a job for them? Is it worth studying in school? Because it takes a long time to license to do the environmental assessment. So that's kind of always on the top of people's minds. What does the government think of nuclear energy?   Dan Seguin  16:56 So I hear that you work at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario. Maybe now you can help me better understand why nuclear power plants, particularly Canada's, are considered among the safest and most secure facilities in the world. And can you talk to us a bit about plans for the refurbishment of existing plants and why it's so important?   Matthew Mairinger  17:26 Yeah, so I think it's, it's almost like an aircraft. When people get on an airplane, you know, they may hear of an accident and they think it's unsafe. But the most unsafe thing you do for air travel is driving to the airport. It's a human's ability to risk perceive. So Nuclear Generating stations are actually among the safest in the world. And we take that down to the lowest level. So when you go to the OPG sites, hold the handrails, there's a defensive driving type of computer based training that we take. And also after the Chernobyl accident, the World Association of Nuclear Operators was created. So they do external audits for safety all across the world. There's also insurance inspections. There's the United Nations inspections. So there's all these different groups doing independent reviews for safety. But safety is the number one priority. And we definitely see that reflected in the company culture. In terms of refurbishment. So Ontario began refurbishing 10 of its 18 power reactors in 2016. And refurbishment is expected to create over 30,000 jobs for the duration of the project. So just a huge amount of jobs being created. And if we look at the cost of nuclear, it averaged around 6.9 cents per kilowatt hour, which was 30%, below the provincial average. And after the refurbishment, we're looking at the cost of nuclear in 2015 speed eight cents a kilowatt hour. So Still, the second cheapest after hydro. So that's why it's so important. It has such a big contribution to getting to net zero to reducing emissions for providing well paying jobs and fighting the climate change that we need to have as a focus.   Dan Seguin  19:18 Matthew, all nuclear power reactors in Canada are candu reactors, correct? Okay. First, what does CANDU stand for? Second, I was made aware that several other countries use our technology. At a high level, what sets Canada's reactors apart?   Matthew Mairinger  19:40 Yeah, so we have 19 reactors here in Canada, 18 of them in Ontario, and all of them are the CANDU type reactors, so CANDU is actually an acronym for Canadian, deuterium, uranium. So that's what it actually stands for. What that means is, that's really how it So Canadian self explanatory, deuterium is heavy water. So instead of using light water, which is the normal water that everyone's used to, heavy water actually has an extra neutron in it, which is really good for slowing down neutrons to make a really efficient reactor. And really, that's what set ours apart from other types of reactors. So around the world, there's gas cooled reactors, there's light water graphite reactors, there's fast breeders, pressurized heavy water reactors, pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, so lots of different types of technologies that they use. Fundamentally, there are three big ones, pressurized water reactors, they pressurize the one side of the system, so that the water never boils, boiling water reactor, it just has one open system. So as soon as the water is heated up from passing over the reactor, it boils, it's all open to the same type of system. And the candu type of reactors, they're really different, because instead of enriching the fuel, we use natural uranium. But what we do is we use that heavy water as the moderator. So we actually spend some money upfront and change the water to this different type of properties, which is good at slowing down the neutrons, so then we don't have to enrich the fuel. So what this means is, we don't need enriched fuel. And then when we're done with our fuel, it's a much lower enrichment. So when we're having that spent fuel put away, it's a much lower radioactivity than if we had enriched that. So it's, it's really hard to say which one is better. They all have their pros and their cons. The good thing about the candu technology as it has two independent shutdown systems, because it uses your natural uranium, it is much safer to handle and to dispose of, we have a vacuum structure. So I quite like the Canadian technology, I think it's really good. We have a really good supply of uranium here in Canada. So it made sense for us to use that natural product rather than building enrichment facilities and going through those extra steps.   Dan Seguin  22:17 Now, there's still a myth that nuclear energy is not safe. Some associate nuclear bombs with nuclear reactors. I'm not sure if you watch the HBO series Chernobyl. But can you explain to the audience why an incident, like what occurred in the Soviet Union in 1986 is very unlikely to happen here. Perhaps you can also talk a bit about radiation.   Matthew Mairinger  22:48 Yeah. So I always just like to start off with a quote, this comes from the book A Bright Future. It says, "In thinking about nuclear power safety, one should always ask compared to what? And the answer is compared to coal, the world's dominant and fastest growing fuel, the leading cause of climate change, the fuel that kills a million people a year - compared to that." So I think we always have to ground ourselves in what we are actually comparing to. And if you look at the numbers, the best analysis for safety is called the death footprint. What it does is it compares coal, it compares oil and hydro, compares nuclear, solar and wind, to the worst case scenarios from Fukushima, Chernobyl. And it says how many people are actually dying from this energy source at the same amount of energy produced, so it puts it all on the same scale. And what it actually shows is that nuclear is orders of magnitude safer than coal and oil, because it doesn't produce pollution. So millions of people every year are dying from pollution from respiratory issues. And nuclear energy, for example, results in 99.8% fewer deaths than brown coal. So it is just so clean. And again, it's this people see a Chernobyl miniseries on HBO, it's you know, produced by Hollywood, they say a large number of people died, where people hear about it in the News, the news and everything else is to amplify the message. So it's trying to do this scare tactic to really, you know, show nuclear disaster in Japan, but no one really follows up on it. So it is amongst the safest. It produces no carbon dioxide, it doesn't produce mercury, and it doesn't produce all these harmful things that burning coal and gas does as well, and why it's very unlikely here compared to Chernobyl. So Chernobyl was a nuclear design that used graphite as a moderator. It had no containment structure. It was run during the, in the Soviet times during the Cold War, where they had no external agencies looking at it, they had political appointees in the control room, just almost everything wrong you could possibly imagine was done there. So, so now we have independent shutdown systems, we have containment structures, we have external agencies looking at the safety records. So there's just so much that has changed from that. And nuclear technology is so new people forget that, you know, it's only in the last 50-60 years that we learned about it. So there was obviously going to be some bumps in the road at the start. But you know, we've learned from that, especially these new designs, they're passively safe. They're inherently safe. So we've taken those lessons learned. And it's very, very, very unlikely here. So in terms of radiation,  one thing I just want to get right off the bat is, radiation is a form of heat transfer, there's conduction, there's convection, and then there's radiation. And radiation as a form of heat transfer is how we actually heat up the planet. So across the vacuum, radiation is the only way to transfer heat from the Sun to the Earth through space, which is a vacuum. Now, the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes x rays, gamma rays, but also radio waves, and microwaves and visible light that we see, we can only see a billionth of a billionth portion of that electromagnetic spectrum. And for non ionizing radiation, that ionization means that the radiation's energy can produce ions, which are charged atoms by knocking negatively charged electrons off of a neutral atom. So non ionizing radiation, there is no proven biological mechanism whereby non ionizing radiation might cause cancer. So those are the radio waves that we come in contact with. That's all the microwaves that we see out there. It's only when we come into the higher energy, which are the X rays, and the gamma rays, which are actually higher frequency waves, that they are considered ionizing radiation. So with that in mind, just want to say that, on average, we all receive around two to three millisieverts of radiation each year. And that varies considerably based on how high up you are, you'll get more radiation at higher altitudes, and also the environment that you live in. So for resonance in Ramsar, Iran, they can receive up to 260 millisieverts per year, which is around 100 times the global average, just due to naturally occurring radioactive elements around them. But there's actually no evidence of any adverse health effects in those areas. So this is always good to keep in mind that there's no just standard level of radiation that people are exposed to. And it also depends on how many medical treatments you have. So some of the chemotherapy or medical imaging can introduce quite a bit more radiation into different people, radio sensitivities. So really the best analysis is the ICRP estimates that around 200 millisieverts raises the risk of cancer (fatal cancer) by 1%. So that's always good to keep in mind when we hear all these numbers and we see the dose charts after Chernobyl or Fukushima, and sometimes people forget, but the baseline lifetime cancer risk for females is around 38%. And for males is around 45%. So there's actually quite a bit of cancer, regardless of radiation just from the cells dividing. But radiation actually has a lot of positive things that it does. So when we have food, we can actually bombard it with radiation. So gamma rays, and this doesn't make the food radioactive. It doesn't make it harmful, but it destroys the bacteria which can cause a lot of problems around the world which has a lot of health issues. We can sterilize medical equipment with this. With radiation, we can treat cancers, we can do medical imaging, we can look for defects and products that we produce. So radiation is all around us. There's radon in your basement, there's potassium 40 in your bananas in the soil, there's radiation, actually, coal burns, releases quite a bit of radiation as well because they're just burning natural elements from the ground. So you'll release thorium, you'll release uranium, release polonium, so actually the stack from coal actually releases around 100 times more radiation than the nuclear station. So being around that. So I think that's always key, as well as to compare the radiation to other things around us. But radiation has been around since the start of the universe. It's, it's, it's there forever. And we're still living with the products there as well. Hope that explained it,   Dan Seguin  30:18 Matthew, how has the pandemic changed the nuclear landscape for Canada. Did you need to pivot, whether in terms of production or operations?   Matthew Mairinger  30:31 COVID, has actually really opened people's eyes to risk. So you know, now every day you go to the grocery store, you're taking a slight risk. And it really shows that there's always risks in the world. And we just need to define what we're comfortable with. And nuclear has also really been a backbone here during COVID. Because we need the hospitals, we need our homes to be heated, we need the grocery stores, we need these fundamental sources of electricity. And we need to be assured that while everyone's running around scared about toilet paper, I saw no one panic about electricity, which was really important. So I think people are learning more that electricity needs to be stable. We don't want blackouts, blackouts cost lives. And that was something that I think people are starting to become aware of. We did need to change some of our outages, so across the nuclear sector for refurbishment and outages, they do have a large amount of contractors and other people coming together. So some of those were deferred a couple of months due to COVID. But other than that, we've had stable electricity being produced across North America and across the world, to nuclear.   Dan Seguin  31:47 Let's talk about the future and Canada's role in nuclear innovation. I know this is something your organization is part of. But can you talk to us a bit about small modular reactors? What are they? And what are their benefits?   Matthew Mairinger  32:06 So I think we saw in the nuclear sector a growing trend to get bigger and bigger and bigger. You know, we started out with very small reactors, and then they got to 1000 megawatts electric 1300-1400. Because as you get a bigger type of reactor, in terms of neutron efficiency, it does have some advantages. But what we saw then was, you know, the only countries that could start to build these were countries that had fully developed nations, they had a lot of government support. And really, we're starting to exclude some of the key sectors. So for example, in the mining communities, for remote communities, for developing nations, they couldn't have access to this. So what small modular reactors really are, are, they're smaller. So you know, we're looking at the order of 300 megawatts electric and smaller, all the way down to under one megawatt electric, which is very good for remote communities for mining communities as well. They're modular, so they're prefabricated in manufacturing. So instead of doing everything on site, you can almost do it through economies of scale, where you produce all the components together and then that reduces the cost as well. And that also allows countries or organizations to start with one type of module. And you know, if the community expands in size, they can add a second one, so it's a modular design that allows them to expand as they need to. And again, this is the new type of designs that they're doing. So they would put these in the communities, they can't melt down, you can't make weapons from them. So they're using the latest type of physics in these types of designs. So there's many different types of designs, but really, what they're doing is they're taking the latest learnings, the latest operating experience, just to make them the safest. The other advantage of small modular reactors as well as they operate at a much higher temperature. So now what you can do is you can use that waste heat, you can split water into hydrogen, so you could be producing hydrogen for the transportation sector, you could look at desalinization, you have all these other type of benefits, since they operate at a much higher temperature, and they could be placed within communities   Dan Seguin  34:32 Per the small modular roadmap, when do you expect the first ones to come online?   Matthew Mairinger  34:39 Yes, so the first demonstration unit is going to be cited at Chalk River by 2026. And the first on-grid small modular reactors are actually going to be built at the Darlington site as early as 2028. But again, small modular reactors really have been in existence since the start of nuclear. They've been in submarines. They've been in demonstration units. So I think some people are concerned that this is a new technology, but really, we've had them for quite a long time. But now they're getting focused. They're trying to do new designs. But we've already seen this in the nuclear sector since the early 50s.   Dan Seguin  35:21 Okay, Matthew, are you ready to close this off with some rapid fire questions?   Matthew Mairinger  35:27 Sure.   Dan Seguin  35:28 Let's go with the first one. What is your favorite word?   Matthew Mairinger  35:32 Got to say, verbosity, it's just the quality of using more words than needed. wordiness I just think the word itself is so pretentious to describe pretentiousness, it's great.   Dan Seguin  35:45 What is one thing you can't live without?   Matthew Mairinger  35:48 Oxygen.   Dan Seguin  35:49 What habit or hobby Have you picked up during shelter in place?   Matthew Mairinger  35:55 So with the gyms closed, I really got back into running. So I ran my first marathon during that. So opened up a positive trait, I guess.   Dan Seguin  36:03 If you could have one superpower, what would it be?   Matthew Mairinger  36:08 Oh, time travel for sure.   Dan Seguin  36:11 If you could turn back time and talk to your 18 year old self, what would you tell him?   Matthew Mairinger  36:17 I'd say to get more involved in nonprofit into these types of organizations through high school through university. They provide a lot of benefits. And I really wasn't aware of them until after I graduated.   Dan Seguin  36:30 And lastly, what do you currently find most interesting in your sector?   Matthew Mairinger  36:37 So I think it's really our impact on fighting climate change, fighting pollution, you know, we're still kind of the underdog out there. So we're still fighting to get recognized but lots of opportunities. And I really think it's going to be the sector that makes the difference.   Dan Seguin  36:53 Well, Matthew, we've reached the end of another episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. Again, thank you so much for joining us today. And I hope you had a lot of fun.   Matthew Mairinger  37:03 Yeah, no, thanks for having me. And great to be part of this.   Dan Seguin  37:11 Thank you for joining us today. I truly hope you enjoyed this episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. For past episodes, make sure you visit our website hydroottawa.com/podcast. Lastly, if you found value in this podcast, be sure to subscribe. Anyway, this podcast is a wrap. Cheers, everyone.

 Dr. Jason Caldwell is a Professional Engineer, Professional Hydrologist, and Certified Consulting Meteorologist. Jason started his career as a meteorologist after B.S. and M.S. degrees from University of Louisiana-Monroe and North Carolina State, respectively. After positions at the South Carolina State Climate Office and Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center, he returned to University of Colorado for a PhD in Water Resources Engineering, finishing in 2013. He enjoys the complexity of machine learning and statistics; cloud computing; and, web-based tools. But, he is most committed to make a difference on the ground with reliable data and models to serve the flood community.Weather & Water has submitted abstracts to the Texas Floodplain Management Association (TFMA) Conference in April 2021 and the American Nuclear Society  Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Analysis first week of September 2021.Connect with JasonWebsitehttps://www.weatherandwater.com/LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncaldwell2020/Twitter@wx_waterFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/staytexasYour hosts: Colton Cockerell & Trisha StetzelClick for more about your hosts:Colton CockerellTrisha StetzelMore fun and interviews on our FB page!https://www.facebook.com/bridgethegapinterviews

Deb Hill shares her career story as a technical leader in the field of nuclear criticality and a storm chaser in her spare time.  As a nervous youngster, Deb learned to grow and develop through the encouragement of a mentor and the realisation that only she could step outside her comfort zone.Deb’s story is one of growing boldness to grow and develop as person and in a career.  Her advice to new graduates is now, “don’t let you be the one who holds you back”.Deb Hill is a Technical Leader and a Laboratory Fellow in Criticality Safety at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory and last year was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Criticality Safety Division. For more information see: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-hill-71b5582b/

In this episode highlighting Nuclear Engineering, we meet Professor Shripad Revankar, Director of the Multiphase and Fuel Cell Research Laboratory in the School of Nuclear Engineering. We'll discuss his work with gas-cooled small modular reactors, part of generation IV of nuclear reactors, which are the safest and most efficient designs yet. Gas-cooled small modular reactors operate at high temperatures up to 1,000 degrees celsius, are small and transportable, and can power areas that lack gridlines or support existing grids. These reactors are also practically autonomous, with minimal refueling and maintenance needs. Professor Revankar speaks to how nuclear energy complements the emergence of renewable energy, as it produces 55 percent of America's carbon-free energy. Because many renewables are intermittent and dependent on environmental conditions, it is important to have a base energy that supplies continuous power that simultaneously supports environmental health. In order to be licensed, reactor designs must contain detailed accident mitigation technologies and procedures.  Because small modular reactors have not been commercially built/operated yet, the regulatory process is still under way. To this end, Revankar is working to address depolarisation nuclear accidents, in which reactors have leaks from their primary systems. When this occurs, there is a chance the oxygen will come back and oxidize the reactor core, which can lead to overheating and meltdown. Revankar is developing an experimental setup, in collaboration with Texas A&M University and the Imperial College of London, through which they can test these accidents and determine mitigation strategies. This research will help ensure the safety of the gas-cooled reactors and assist developed and developing countries in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. This summer, Professor Revankar worked with both undergraduate and graduate students to perform scaling analysis on the experimental system setup, in addition to work with CAD modeling and other design projects. His research is approachable for college students of all ages, relevant, and pertinent to the success of generation IV reactors. Revankar's passion for the field is tangible in each conversation he has, and he is driven each day by the passion exuded by his students, nuclear's boundless applications, and the constant evolution and excitement of the field. This is one of four episodes featuring Purdue University's Nuclear Engineering. Listen to more about Nuclear Engineering and others engineering topics at the Purdue Engineering podcast website.  Special thanks to Destiny White, our guest host for this podcast.  Destiny is a junior in nuclear engineering at Purdue University. Throughout her three years, she has participated in activities ranging from rowing to nuclear security research. She currently serves as the founder and president of Minorities in Nuclear Engineering and Sciences (MINES), the treasurer of Purdue's American Nuclear Society chapter, and a teaching assistant for the honors engineering program. Her current career aspiration is to work with uranium chemistry and safeguards inspection.   

In this episode highlighting Nuclear Engineering, we meet Professor Lefteri Tsoukalas, professor in Nuclear engineering and a renowned scholar on deep neural networks. He'll be sharing insights on how artificial intelligence is being integrated into nuclear power systems and nuclear security. Tsoukalas is recipient of the Humboldt Prize and an internationally renowned expert in signal processing algorithms applied to nuclear materials detection and non-proliferation, smart sensor development and advanced measurement techniques. He has extensive experience as a safeguards engineer and as a nuclear instrumentation and controls specialist and has served in several advisory and consulting positions for national and international regulatory agencies. He has more than 25 years of accumulated experience as project manager of competitively funded projects sponsored, among others, by NNSA, NRC, DOD, DOE and EPRI. His research covers both experimental and model development studies, signal processing techniques, including cutting edge multi-variant statistical methods, Gaussian processes for background estimation, wavelet analysis and Hilbert-Huang transforms. This is one of four episodes featuring Purdue University's Nuclear Engineering. Listen to more about Nuclear Engineering and others engineering topics at the Purdue Engineering podcast website Special thanks to Destiny White, our guest host for this podcast.  Destiny is a junior in nuclear engineering at Purdue University. Throughout her three years, she has participated in activities ranging from rowing to nuclear security research. She currently serves as the founder and president of Minorities in Nuclear Engineering and Sciences (MINES), the treasurer of Purdue's American Nuclear Society chapter, and a teaching assistant for the honors engineering program. Her current career aspiration is to work with uranium chemistry and safeguards inspection. 

In this episode highlighting Nuclear Engineering, we meet Dr. Ran Kong, a post-doctoral research associate working with the head of the School of Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Seungjin Kim. He'll discuss his work with a Versatile Test Reactor and how it will contribute to the future of nuclear energy. Dr. Kong's original intention was to study coal power plants during his undergraduate studies in China, yet after taking an “intro to nuclear energy” course, he learned of the importance of carbon-free emissions to the planet's future. The nuclear industry's reliability, emphasis on safety, and sustainability drew Dr. Kong to study nuclear engineering as a way to steer the world away from the toxicity of carbon emitters. Dr. Kong works in the Thermal-Hydraulics and Reactor Safety Laboratory (TRSL) at Purdue with the goal of design improvements for high-performing reactor systems. In the TRSL, Kong has the capability to study fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and safety in nuclear systems. His current focus is his work with the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a Department of Energy-funded program intended to accelerate and improve generation IV reactor designs. Dr. Kong is collaborating with Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory to design the VTR's sodium-cooled cartridge loop to assist the development of sodium fast reactors. The VTR program contributes directly to the United States' ability to maintain its leadership in advanced reactor technologies, which was threatened by the shutdown of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) in the 1990s. The VTR re-establishes the testing capability, allowing for the continuous development of new materials and nuclear fuels for the next generation of reactors. The global market for nuclear power technology is estimated at $1 trillion, nuclear power generation is projected to grow 73% by 2040, and most of the existing reactors are on track to retire within the next few decades. Thus, the contributions of the VTR are crucial if the United States, and even the world, is to keep up with global energy demand in the future. Read Dr. Kong's Medium article about the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) This is one of four episodes featuring Purdue University's Nuclear Engineering. Listen to more about Nuclear Engineering and other engineering topics at the Purdue Engineering podcast website.  Special thanks to Destiny White, our guest host for this podcast.  Destiny is a junior in nuclear engineering at Purdue University. Throughout her three years, she has participated in activities ranging from rowing to nuclear security research. She currently serves as the founder and president of Minorities in Nuclear Engineering and Sciences (MINES), the treasurer of Purdue's American Nuclear Society chapter, and a teaching assistant for the honors engineering program. Her current career aspiration is to work with uranium chemistry and safeguards inspection. 

1) Craig Piercy looks back on how his experience in policy led him to get involved with the American Nuclear Society 2) How the American Nuclear Society addresses challenging nuclear issues such as research funding and the public’s understanding of radiation 3) Craig analyzes the differences between risk-informed decisions related to COVID-19 and nuclear radiation and waste 4) Why nuclear power needs to be integral in combating climate change and the technical solutions that will get us there

This episode of interviews with famous scientists was brought to you with the help of the American Nuclear Society. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steve-neufeld/message

In this episode we discuss... Marilyn Kray's personal journey through the nuclear industry How different engineering disciplines collaborate to make a nuclear plant operate The role of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the design and construction of nuclear power plants How the culture between utilities and regulators in the nuclear industry has evolved over time What it takes to prepare and execute a nuclear plant refueling outage plan Licensing options for existing and newly designed nuclear plants during design, construction, and operation How traditional utilities and investors are getting involved with new nuclear technology Education efforts supported and funded by the American Nuclear Society

In this episode we discuss... Bob’s background in mechanical engineering and his personal journey in the nuclear industry The history of MPR and Bob’s role as Principal Officer MPR’s work with power plants across the US and its critical role in US nuclear Solutions for intergranular stress corrosion cracking in boiling water reactors How Bob copes with the stress that comes with working in nuclear The American Nuclear Society and Bob’s mission to increase its ranks as well as interest in younger generations Why Bob believes nuclear is the most sustainable energy source and what it’s going to take to make it cost efficient and deployable across the world

Stephen Romejko: APX Melt-Down, Moon Marauder   Stephen Romejko published two games through Atari Program Exchange: Melt-Down and Moon Marauder. Melt-Down was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. Moon Marauder was first available in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the consumer category.   This interview took place on April 14, 2018.   "Melt-Down was causing some special issues ... Apparently the American Nuclear Society took offense to it. ... 'People would develop harmful misconceptions and phobias about the peaceful use of nuclear power.'"   Melt-Down in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog   Moon Marauder in the fall 1983 APX catalog   AtariMania's list of Stephen's games

Thomas L. Sanders, Vice President/President Elect of the American Nuclear Society discusses energy future from an American perspective at a CNS lunchtime seminar. According to him, energy availability is directly tied to national economic health and the U.S. must change its energy posture to sustain and grow its prosperity.