Podcasts about Idaho National Laboratory

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is best known for its nuclear engineering and pioneering reactor testing programs. Somewhat lesser known is the Lab’s cutting edge research in all other energy sources including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biomass and batteries. The Energy and Environment, Science & Technology (EES&T) Directorate, one of five directorates at the Lab, focuses its research on understanding available energy sources and melding them into coherent and maximally effective systems. The Directorate’s R&D programs seek to take advantage of the special characteristics each energy source adds to the mix. Dr. Shannon Bragg-Sitton is INL’s Associate Laboratory Director in charge of the EES&T. She is a nuclear engineer by education and experience who initially focused on what she refers to as “nano-reactors.” Those devices, the smallest of which are no bigger than a kitchen trash can, are designed to serve space applications, either as planetary – or Lunar – power supplies or as propulsion sources. During our conversation, Shannon described her career trajectory from being a student to working at NASA to being a professor at Texas A&M focused on space nuclear power. She described moving to the Idaho National Laboratory as a way to broaden her technical and leadership scope. She mentioned how that move was partially motivated by the challenge of being a tenure track professor while also having three “very young” children. At INL, she branched out from her special interest in very small reactors and eventually found herself in charge of a division that developed concepts for micro grids that incorporate a wide variety of power sources in ways that maximized effectiveness and economy while still ensuring continuing reliability. She learned to appreciate the value and contributions from non nuclear power sources while never losing her passion for nuclear energy and its capabilities. Her career advice boils down to a set of recommendations for young professionals: Maintain a questioning attitude, Be open to new opportunities, Be willing to get outside of their comfort zone Be able to adapt in the face of changing circumstances. Aside: Shannon has a special interest in the development of young professionals in the nuclear industry. When we first met, she was part of a group of seven passionate professionals who were founding a group they called NA-YGN – North American Young Generation in Nuclear. At the time, the industry organizations were dominated by people in the north of 45 category. NA-YGN was aimed at people who were 35 or younger, but they made an exception for a 40+ blogger who shared their passion. End Aside. We talked about the utility of energy storage, both in the form of electrical energy stored in a chemical battery and thermal energy stored in a system like the molten salt tanks associated with TerraPower’s Natrium power plant. We talked a bit about the rapid successes being achieved in micro reactors as part of the Reactor Pilot Program and we also talked about the way that a number of exiting developments at INL are helping to contribute to a growing economy in Idaho Falls. As a long-time resident of Idaho Falls, Shannon expressed mixed emotions about the increased traffic and higher costs of living associated with new activities at INL, but came down on the side of being happy about the economic development. She also spoke passionately about Idaho as a wonderful place to live and to raise a family, especially if you like activities like hiking and camping. You’ll enjoy the show.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was born in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station after the Atomic Energy Commission decided they needed a place to test controlled nuclear fission power systems. Before being taken over by the AEC, the land was controlled and used by the U.S. Navy to test refurbished weapons, up to and including the 16″ guns carried by battleships. After a five decade long hiatus in building new reactors while also implementing a significant level of diversification into other research areas, the INL is regaining strength in its original purpose as a place to test and demonstrate complete nuclear reactor power plants. (The term “plant” is not really applicable to micro-reactors, but it will serve as a general term for now.) This time through, the design, approval, construction and testing programs are not being led by a federal monopoly called the Atomic Energy Commission. It is not focused on developing reactors that can be used to test the ideas of scientists who don’t really care if anyone wants to buy the system they are developing. Instead, the reactor development efforts underway and in planning for the future are more cooperative, distributed and commercially driven. Josh Gillespie is the Chief Operating Officer of the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC). He visited the Atomic Show to talk about NRIC and its role in helping the Nuclear Renaissance gain traction and success. NRIC was created in 2019 as a result of directives and authorizations contained in the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA). Its purpose is to build bridges that enable private sector organizations to work with national laboratory scientists and physical resources to cross the “valley of death” between good ideas and commercially viable products. It is tasked with preparing facilities to serve as test beds for new reactor development and testing and to develop sites where new facilities can be built. Though it can be a challenge for any government organization – like a national lab – NRIC has been tasked to be able to operate at the speed of a start-up. It is taking strides in that direction, though it is still limited in speed by the federal government budget cycle. Josh described how NRIC is working closely with the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office which is directly responsible for the DOE 1271 authorization process for both reactors and supporting facilities – like those that are in the fuel supply chain or involved in radioactive materials testing and evaluation. NRIC helps private sector companies develop their plans, find suitable facilities, prepare required submittals and engage in readiness reviews. NRIC’s reach extends beyond the boundaries of the Idaho National Laboratory; has been contracted to support several of the Reactor Pilot Program developers that have built or are building their reactors in Texas or Utah. Josh described DOME as the crowning jewel of NRICs facilities. It once served as the containment dome for the highly successful but prematurely retired Experimental Breeder Reactor II, the remains of which are encased in concrete and grout in the basement and foundations of the existing facility. DOME is designed to be able to host a test reactor that might be exercised to its limits while still preventing any release of radioactive materials. Radiant Nuclear was selected as the first tenant of the DOME. It is scheduled to complete its operational testing and to remove its equipment from the facility in a year to make room for the next tenant. Top shield covering Antares Mark-0 in RACE facility NRIC played an important role in the success of the Reactor Pilot Program. It helped to find and repurpose facilities for Antares (RACE – Reactor and Criticality Experiment), Deployable Energy (NRAD – Neutron Radiography Reactor) Aside: Bit of INL Trivia – The building that is now RACE housed the Army’s ML-1 reactor development program from the late 1950s until the program was ended in 1964. End Aside. Josh described NRIC’s role in the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad as similar to that of a subdivision developer. A 2,000 acre plot has been allocated. NRIC is responsible for developing basic infrastructure, including roads and common utility systems. It will arrange for site characterization studies in preparation for environmental assessments. Private sector developers will lease their sites and contract for any additional services desired from an available menu. These include additional security and fire services. There will be similar services offered to developers who are building on sites that are not INL; that part of the program is called Launch Pad – USA. Josh is an Idaho native who is happy to be involved in creating a winning partnership between private sector companies and government/national lab organizations. He believes that the new developments will help Idaho National Lab continue to thrive and lead in nuclear energy development. He is excited about helping to deploy abundant sources of clean electricity and heat that will contribute to a bright future for Idaho, the U.S. and the rest of the world. You’ll enjoy this show. Listen carefully and comment via X if desired.

The Real Estate Espresso Podcast is sponsored by the Cost Segregation Guys. Cost Segregation is the key to accelerating depreciation and improving cash flow for your real estate assets. Click HERE to connect with them and get a discount on their services. ------------Today we are talking about what may be the beginning of a nuclear renaissance. I realize that this is a real estate podcast. But occasionally I come across something that has the potential to have global impact.Over the July Fourth weekend, nuclear startup company Aalo Atomics brought a reactor to criticality at Idaho National Laboratory. The reactor was manufactured in roughly forty days. That is an extraordinary achievement, but the real story is not the stopwatch. The real story is the system behind it.The first enabling technology is the coolant. Conventional reactors use water under high pressure. High pressure demands thick reactor vessels, specialized forgings, heavy components, and a supply chain with very few qualified manufacturers. These reactor vessels are hugely expensive and take an extraordinary amount of time to manufacture. Aalo uses liquid sodium, which transfers heat at low pressure and has a high boiling point. Lower pressure allows thinner steel vessels that can be made from plate, rolled, welded, inspected, and moved through an industrial process. That changes the manufacturing problem from one of heroic craftsmanship to one of repeatable production.Instead of building one plant as a unique civil project, the design is broken into truckable modules. A module can be built indoors, where tools remain in place, workers repeat tasks, and quality is measured at every station. That sounds ordinary because it is how automobiles, aircraft, and industrial equipment are manufactured. The building was completed in thirty six days, the reactor was fabricated in less than a month, and hundreds of fuel rods were assembled in 2.5 days.------------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

https://youtu.be/uePyn0u75sY Staff Sheehan, CEO of Project Omega, is driven by a mission to strengthen America’s energy independence and national security by rebuilding the nation’s nuclear fuel cycle and scaling a culture-first business rooted in exceptional leadership and execution. With a career spanning energy, sustainable fuels, hydrogen, and chemical physics, Staff is leading the development of technologies that transform spent nuclear fuel into long-lasting power sources while helping usher in a new era of reliable, abundant nuclear energy. We explore Staff Sheehan’s Scaling Framework — Build the Best C-Suite, Due Diligence Your Investors, Build Things, and Execute, Execute, Execute. Staff explains why exceptional leadership is the foundation of every successful company, why founders should carefully vet their investors, and why hardware startups must prioritize building real products over ambitious concepts. He also discusses how AI-driven energy demand is fueling a nuclear renaissance, why restoring the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle is essential to energy independence, and what it takes to scale both advanced nuclear technologies and a high-growth company. — Scale a Culture-First Business with Staff Sheehan  Hi, everyone. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. My guest today is Staff Sheehan, the CEO of Project Omega, an advanced nuclear recycling company with a mission to rebuild America’s nuclear fuel cycle end-to-end and unlock a new era of energy abundance for the United States. Wow. What a mission. Welcome to the show, Staff.  Thanks so much for having me, Steve. Great to be here.  Wow. You really are not playing small. Rebuilding America’s nuclear fuel cycle and unlocking a new era of energy abundance. Tell me about your personal “Why.” How are you manifesting it through the business? Well, I’ve been working in the energy industry, or adjacent to the energy industry, for a long time. This is the fourth business that I’ve started. Prior to this, I was in sustainable fuels. Prior to that, I was in metals and hydrogen. Before that, I did a Ph.D. in chemical physics. And before that, I was in software, but it was in something that was energy-intensive. So I've always been focused on how we can improve the energy industry in the United States. More recently, especially, that has become more and more intertwined with national security.Share on X  So I would say that for the last 10 years, I’ve spent a lot of time focused not just on energy, but also on national security. Right at the intersection of energy and national security is the nuclear industry. Over the last year, especially since four executive orders on nuclear power were signed, I’ve been focused on the nuclear industry. This has really been the resurgence of nuclear power in the United States over the last year or so. Yeah, it’s super fascinating. So, I mean, stupid question: why is this important?  Well, now I think we’re learning—and we’re having an acute learning experience, especially in the United States—that energy is a key bottleneck. And I think the thing that woke us up to that, in a lot of ways, is AI and the need for compute. But it’s not been only AI. We’ve been exporting manufacturing. We’ve been exporting a lot of things from the United States that rely on electricity or rely on energy in one way or another. Our exporting of that has caught up to us, and we now have to reshore a lot of things that maybe in the ’80s and the ’90s we decided to export out to China, for example. Now that we’ve realized that was not the greatest idea, we now are realizing that we need the energy to power it.  And so energy has become a key talking point, and the infrastructure behind energy has become a key talking point, especially in the United States. People’s electricity prices have gone up, so it’s not just industry and not just the folks who are building AI and data centers. It’s really everybody who’s now feeling the pain of our energy crunch. It’s crunched a little bit now, and I think people see that also because of what’s going on in the Middle East and the high price of gas. But the crunch is continuing because we know we have a high energy demand for all of the AI build-out that we’ve been doing for the last handful of years. Yeah, that is so interesting. And I remember in the 1990s, there was this phenomenon that actually the energy demand was falling, at least in Europe, where I come from, and there was overcapacity, and there was approval of overbuilding capacity. And the discussion was, “Okay, why do we need this? How do we slow this down?” And now the opposite thing is happening, which is pretty fascinating.  There’s a big question as to how idle assets are used, right? Because a lot of people don’t understand how electrical grids work. Everywhere in the world, energy is pretty much generated as you use it. So the energy that we’re using to talk on this podcast is being generated, depending on where you are located in the United States. From my location, it’s probably being generated by a natural gas power plant because it’s 2:10 in the afternoon, and this is around the time when a lot of natural gas peaker plants start to get going.  Depending on where you’re calling in from, those electrons are being generated live as we’re speaking. There’s not much storage on the grid. We do have some storage on the grid. California uses pumped hydro. They’re building battery infrastructure in places like Texas, but they’re not quite there yet. Grids don’t operate by just making the energy and then using it later. No. Grids operate by putting energy into the grid as demand is increasing. So the energy that you use is being generated live. You have to think about it that way.  Historically, back in the ’80s and the ’90s, there were not a lot of sinks for that live energy that was being generated, and people were also really bad at predicting demand. Another thing that happened in the ’80s and the ’90s, as I said right before, is that we were outsourcing a lot of our manufacturing to China. So China was building energy capacity because they saw all this manufacturing demand coming in. Their cost of labor was cheaper than what you guys had in Europe and what we had in the United States.  Robotics was not a thing, so everything was pretty manual. And the energy wasn’t needed here. It was needed, but Europe and the US were outsourcing, so we didn’t have the need for the energy here because we were sending all the jobs over to the Far East. They needed the energy there, so they built a bunch of coal-fired power plants. They built a lot of energy capacity while those conversations were happening in Europe. And now I think we’ve realized that it was a mistake to outsource so many things—and, in a sense, outsource your energy generation as well.  We need to find ways of either storing energy or converting that energy and using it productively. So rather than storing it, you could convert it into chemical products. You could convert it into a variety of different things. I think we've learned a lot since the '80s and the '90s, and I think that ties into the original learning experience: don't outsource everything. You need to learn how to be self-sufficient.Share on X Yeah. Yeah, don’t outsource your key competencies and your key resources. And energy is clearly one of those. Just a quick side question: How much energy is being wasted because it’s not able to be stored?  It depends on where you are. A lot of energy gets wasted in places where you have high hydroelectric utilization. But the cost to produce it is very cheap because hydro is indirect solar. The water evaporates, comes down, and it’s very dependent on the landscape where you can deploy hydroelectric power. In other places where you have power plants that follow load, like natural gas, for example, then you’re probably not wasting quite as many electrons as you are in places where you could potentially overproduce.  But I think we’re generally pretty efficient. We don’t waste too much, and a lot of that is because of the way grids work, where we predict how much electricity is needed, and we ramp production up and down as required.  Okay. Let’s talk about frameworks that you may have in your business. This podcast is about frameworks—the processes that are maybe unique to your business or that you discovered as you were building your business. Anything come to mind that can be explained in three to five steps, or as approaches or perspectives?  Yeah, I mean, I guess the learnings that I've had over all of my businesses. I think the first learning is: hire the right people.Share on X As a CEO, you have to spend an inordinate amount of your time on hiring, recruiting, and finding the right people. It’s super important to make sure that you have the best team. So that was my number one job when I started Project Omega: to hire the best possible team that I could hire.  And that was really, like, I told my investors that your first KPI is: build the best C-suite that you can. And I think I did that. I have a really incredible team of folks at Project Omega who are subject area experts in the parts of the business that they lead, and so I’m really happy with how I did it in this business. I’ve had stumbling blocks in prior businesses, and that’s how you learn. You call them learning experiences for a reason. My biggest stumbling block in my prior company was investors.  I didn’t do proper due diligence on investors. There’s ongoing litigation that I’m a part of that has to do with investors where you may not know where their money comes from. I think the number two thing is: make sure that you do a lot of diligence on who’s backing you. Typically, investors do diligence on founders, but founders don’t do quite as much diligence on the investors. And we need to flip that narrative. It’s especially true in national security. In national security, you have to be very sensitive to foreign actors. And this, again, was the issue that I ran into in my last business.  You can’t accept money from people who have significant backing from groups that are adversarial to the United States. A lot of those groups are U.S.-based funds. They’re not foreign funds, but they just get their money from foreign sources, and you have to be very careful about that when you’re in the national security world. It may not be as important if you’re making, like, a consumer app.  But if you’re doing things in energy and you’re doing things in national security, those are places where those people could seriously cause problems for your business down the line. And it comes out years after they invest in you. It’s not like they invest in you and then middle around two days later. All of these groups, including adversaries to the United States, are playing the long game. It’s not a next-week thing. It’s a several-years-from-now thing.  Interesting. Interesting. Okay. So that’s good advice. So build the best C-suite you can, and make sure you do your due diligence on your investors. What’s the next important lesson that you learned about building a business?  Focus on execution. Execution is the challenge. I think there are a lot of businesses out there that exist on paper, and when you’re a hardware company, that’s not the way to do things. I think there are a lot of on-paper businesses that, for better or for worse, have been very successful. Some of them have had IPOs and SPACs and things like that. There are businesses that exist on paper—at least in the nuclear industry, the energy industry, and the fuels industry—that have gone very far for on-paper businesses. But I think a very large portion of those—and I haven’t done all the statistics, but I’m sure Claude or Grok or GPT could—a lot of those businesses don’t do very well because they don’t have any actual experience building things in the real world.  So I think it's extremely important to execute, to get steel in the ground, and to focus on actually building things when you're in the hardware space.Share on X Now, of course, in software, that’s a little bit different. So it depends on whether you’re running a hardware or software business. In software, you may be able to keep going for a lot longer without a product or without having things in market because you’re building something that you know is going to have a huge splash when it comes out. But that’s not necessarily the way hardware businesses are able to be put together.  So give me an example of a business that’s on paper and not in the real world. Give me a hypothetical example.  A hypothetical example would be a business that has put together a number of contracts and a number of marketing materials about what they’re going to do, but they’ve never actually gone out and done it. Whether that’s at a small scale, like the lab scale, or at a larger scale, the point is they haven’t actually built it. My business—we’re very public about this. There are photographs and things like that of our lab out there. My business is at the lab scale. We’re working on going up to the pilot scale right now.  So that’s grams and kilograms of material. We’re not recycling metric tons of nuclear material. No business is doing that in the Western world except the one in France. So no business is doing that in the United States currently. But we’re public about where we are and what scale we’re at. A lot of businesses out there say they’re going to go out and operate XYZ widget, let’s say, and get a lot of traction around that before they’ve actually operated any sort of widget. And I think hardware is different than software.  Some venture markets have learned that, and some are probably going to learn that. But it’s been my experience over the last 12 years of running hardware businesses. My prior two businesses—Catalytic Innovations and Air Company—were both hardware businesses. And before I went to college and graduate school, I was in the software world, so I’ve kind of seen it from both sides.  Yeah. That’s interesting. So I saw your LinkedIn post about these underwater unmanned vehicles—UUVs, I think you call them. Is this like an underwater drone? Yeah. So, a UUV is an unmanned underwater vehicle. If you're trying to do something underwater, like do reconnaissance or try to find out what's going on under there with your adversaryShare on X or even a neutral party using a UUV is a way to do that without putting service members in harm’s way and a way to do that in a low-cost environment. So that’s one of the major applications for UUVs. But one of the big challenges for them is: how do you power them? You could use fuel to power them, but then they could run out of fuel, and then you have a stranded asset.  You could use electricity to power them with a battery, but the battery also runs out, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s very hard to recover these. You’re not going to go down to the bottom of the sea to recover your UUV. The other option is to use—and we already do this, right, with our manned underwater vehicles, or our nuclear submarines in the United States—we already use nuclear power to power those submarines. And so that’s been the way that we've historically been able to operate underwater for long periods of time, and that's the way that I think we're probably going to go for these unmanned vehicles as well.Share on X  And that’s what my business focuses on. So we not only do this for UUVs but for space applications as well as terrestrial applications by building power sources. Those power sources are made using material that we recycle from spent nuclear fuel. Those power sources are called radiovoltaics, and you could imagine them as like an AA battery that lasts 30 years. And that’s really, I would say, the next step for operational energy. So we’re focused on using those as replacements for batteries in these small applications. You could think of it as a much broader application in the future—not just operational energy for the military, but beyond that. We actually use these sorts of materials in our everyday lives.  You’re sitting in a room, I’m sitting in a room, and I’m looking up at the smoke detector in my room. You’re sitting in a room with a smoke detector in it as well, and that smoke detector has a little piece of americium-241. Americium-241 is an isotope recovered from nuclear waste. We don’t recover it in the United States because we haven’t recycled nuclear waste in probably a little north of 50 years. But you can get these isotopes from places like France, where they recycle nuclear waste today. So all of us are sitting in a room with a radioisotope-powered device. Americium-241 specifically powers the detector in your smoke detector. Americium spits out alpha particles.  Those alpha particles are little helium nuclei. They hit a detector continuously, and that generates a current. Now, if smoke goes up into your smoke detector, those alpha particles hit the smoke instead of hitting the detector, and you won’t get that same current generation in your smoke detector. So that’s how we detect smoke, and right now, nuclear waste is sitting in all of our houses, keeping us safe. But that’s not really a mainstream part of the narrative yet.  Yeah. And what about the radiation? Is it not dangerous?  No. So for americium, there are different types of radiation. Well, not all radiation is created equal. There’s alpha radiation, which is what americium-241 emits predominantly, and those are little helium nuclei. Those can’t go through a piece of paper. Alpha radiation stops very easily. Like, your skin will very easily stop alpha radiation. Beta radiation, which is different from alpha radiation, is an electron that is flung out of a nucleus. So beta radiation is also stopped relatively easily.  Like, if you ingest it, then it could cause problems, but again, your skin can stop it. Gamma radiation is the one that we’re concerned about from a health perspective. Now, gamma radiation can be used for medical treatments and is very effective when it’s used in medical treatments, like to treat cancer, but gamma radiation is generally pretty bad because it goes straight through you. Gamma rays are little photons, and they’re very high-energy photons, so they can fly through you and they can cause damage to your DNA.  A lot of the, I would say, like, negative effects of any nuclear incident are really caused by gamma radiation more than anything else. Like Chernobyl, which is the famous one, had cesium-137 polluting a lot of the countryside around Chernobyl, and cesium-137 is a very strong gamma emitter. So gamma is what we try to avoid. At Project Omega, we don’t use gamma emitters for our power sources, and so all of our power sources use the safer types of radiation. That’s fascinating. So, Staff, I’d like to switch gears here a little bit and go back to business. So what drives growth in a business like yours—or specifically, your business?  A lot of things drive growth. Our business right now works together with a lot of groups in national security.Share on X We’re driven by the growth of the United States, and we’re driven by the growth of our economy. But beyond that, the demand for nuclear electricity has been very high, and that’s driven a lot of growth for us as well. How do you generate enough electricity to power data centers and power compute? That’s a huge problem in the world right now.  A lot of people who initially invested in AI are pivoting to invest in energy, actually, because they’re realizing the bottleneck for AI is not the chips. It’s the energy that’s needed to power the chips. As people are building these new assets that require all this energy, they’re quickly realizing that nuclear is one of the best ways to fulfill all of these energy requirements. As the nuclear industry grows, we’re seeing the need to reshore and bring the nuclear fuel cycle back to the United States.  We stopped doing commercial enrichment, for example, a long time ago, and there are a lot of great companies working on commercial enrichment. We stopped doing recycling and reprocessing back in the 1970s, and we’re bringing that back. We’re one of the groups working on bringing recycling and reprocessing back to the United States in a more responsible way than we did back then because technology is undoubtedly and unarguably better today than it was in the 1960s and 1970s.  That’s fascinating. So you’re helping all these old economies, which are obviously in a new skin, recover here—manufacturing and energy. So what’s one thing that you’re trying to figure out in your business right now?  So one of the challenges that everybody in the nuclear industry faces right now is scale. There’s a whole new group of reactors called small modular reactors, and another colloquial term for those is advanced reactors. Figuring out how to scale those is one of the challenges. So we’re working right now on scale. We're focused very heavily on scaling up our process so that we're able to build these true infrastructure projects that will ensure that the United States has a domestic nuclear fuel cycle going into the future. So that's really the main focus…Share on X  Being able to not only scale our technology but also execute at the current scale that we operate. On the execution side, we work together with two really great national labs: Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Execution in the nuclear industry is historically challenging, and working together with the government and the national labs is a big value-add because those national labs have the institutional memory, and they have the experience of working with radioactive materials and nuclear materials that we’re able to piggyback off of. They also have a lot of infrastructure that we’re able to work with.  Yeah. And when you say scale, is it about scaling energy generation, energy transmission, or the manufacturing of equipment that utilizes the recovered nuclear fuel? Or is it also about scaling the organization in terms of managing the organization? All of the above. All of the above. This time last year, we were pretty much one person. Or, this time last year, we were still a concept, and we started the business in July last year. So this time last year, we were pretty much one person, and now we’re close to 20. We’ve already scaled by a lot in just the last year. But we probably need to scale by another order of magnitude by the time we get to next year. So a big part of it is managing the growth of a high-growth and rapidly moving organization.  But a big piece of it is also scaling energy in the United States—scaling transmission, scaling generation, and scaling the production of nuclear fuel. Right now, we get a lot of our nuclear fuel from overseas. Twenty percent of the United States electrical grid is nuclear. So today, we use a lot of nuclear electrons to power, as I mentioned, based on our locations, we’re probably not using too many nuclear electrons right now. Or, Steve, I don’t know where you’re calling in from.  I’m in Virginia, the capital of data centers.  I take it back. You’re actually probably using nuclear electrons as we speak. So we need to scale that generation, but we also need to scale the fuel for those reactors. The nuclear electrons that you’re using to talk with me right now are most likely coming from Russian uranium that we buy from Russia.  I think your home country and many folks in Europe have learned that relying on Russia for your energy resources is not the greatest idea. We still, to this day, rely on Russia for a lot of our commercial uranium for our commercial reactors, and that’s something that we need to change. So scaling our nuclear fuel cycle in the United States is a key aspect of what we’re doing.  So what’s really fascinating is we were on vacation in Moab, Utah, just a few weeks ago, and we noticed that there was a lot of mining of nuclear materials there. Is this something that happened in the past and essentially the industry wound down in the U.S., or is there still mining of nuclear materials here?  So there’s very little actual mining of uranium in the United States. I think something like 99% of our uranium comes from foreign sources. So there’s not a lot of uranium mining. The management of nuclear resources in the United States… There is a good amount of nuclear work that’s being done in Utah, but there are a handful of states that actually do the majority of the nuclear-material legwork. Utah is one of them, I think. Idaho is the birthplace of nuclear energy, and so Idaho is doing a lot of work on the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear materials management.  Idaho is where all of the spent fuel from our naval fleet goes at the end of the life of aircraft carriers and submarines. That’s public knowledge. You can look it up. There’s a lot of work that’s been done to make sure all of that material is managed completely safely and very effectively. So Idaho is the birthplace of nuclear energy, and it’s also where a lot of work on the nuclear fuel cycle is happening. That’s actually the other state where we operate at Project Omega. So Idaho is, I would say, one of the leaders in the nuclear renaissance that’s happening right now.  Okay. So that’s a really good point. So you’re in Idaho. Where else are you in the United States, and what would you like our listeners to do when they hear about you? Who are the people that you would like to get in touch with you?  Well, I’m calling in from Newport, Rhode Island, right now. So Newport, Rhode Island, is our headquarters. We have a laboratory that we operate that’s down the street from here. So we have some operations in Rhode Island, and that’s our headquarters. We also have operations in Idaho, and that’s where we’re building some of our infrastructure. We have a small contingent in the DC area as well. We have other facilities as well, but we keep those confidential. Publicly, we’re headquartered in Rhode Island, and we do a lot of work in Idaho and in the DC area. That’s fascinating. So if people get interested in what you’re doing and would like to get in touch with you or learn more about Project Omega, where should they go, and where can they learn more? They would go to projectomega.com. info@projectomega.com is our main inbox. We do a pretty good job of staying up to date with it. That’s also what we use for careers and hiring. As I mentioned, hiring is one of my top jobs. So we’re always interested in finding the best candidates out there who want to revolutionize the nuclear fuel cycle in the United States. That’s fantastic. So if you’re interested in the nuclear industry, recycling nuclear fuel, and driving the UUVs of the next generation, then definitely check out the Project Omega website and reach out to Staff. And if you enjoyed this conversation, make sure you follow us and subscribe on YouTube. Stay tuned, because every week there’s an exciting entrepreneur coming on the show. Staff, thanks for coming and sharing your wisdom and unique knowledge. And thanks for listening.  Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Steve. This was great. Important Links: Staff's LinkedIn Staff's Website Staff's email: info@projectomega.com

Technology is advancing at an astonishing pace. The number of connected devices per square kilometer is expected to grow from one million to ten million, and the transition to 6G is paving the way with dazzling new levels of speed and capability.  This week on Feds At the Edge, Arup Bhuyan from Idaho National Laboratory, Eric Freer from Sterling, and Jorge Escobar from Nokia explore how download speeds could increase from 1 GB per second to 100 GB per second, dramatically reducing latency and making it possible for federal agencies to monitor networks in real time and respond more quickly to cyber threats.  We'll also explore Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) and its potential to transform everything from drone defense to intelligent network management. Hear why experts believe agencies will need creative approaches that leverage AI, advanced encryption, and zero-energy sensors to secure the next generation of networks.  Tune in on your favorite podcast platform as government and industry thought leaders discuss the need for international collaboration, significant investments in research and development, and the integration of AI to build faster, smarter, and more secure networks.             

For years, the energy transition was discussed as a shift that would happen in steady, predictable increments. But a massive surge in electricity demand in recent years—now colliding with a fracturing geopolitical landscape—has reshaped the global race for clean, reliable power.   All this has pulled nuclear energy back to the center of the national conversation—with many policymakers from both sides of the aisle calling for a nuclear renaissance. But past multi-billion dollar cost overruns on traditional gigawatt-scale projects still hang over the sector, even as a novel pipeline of small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies promise to reshape the grid. This has put renewed attention on whether the US regulatory system is ready for the scale and speed of what's needed.   So what reforms are key to supporting the US nuclear energy sector? What needs to be done to ensure speed, safety, and predictability? And where do policymakers need to be careful to preserve the credibility, independence, and public trust that make nuclear regulation durable over the long term?   Today on the show, Jason Bordoff speaks with Ashley Finan and Amy Roma about the growing nuclear industry and evolving landscape of nuclear regulation.   Ashley is the Jay and Jill Bernstein fellow here at the Center on Global Energy Policy and previously served in senior leadership roles at Idaho National Laboratory, where she worked on nuclear energy and national security issues.   Amy is a partner at the law firm Orrick, where she advises clients on legal, business, and policy matters related to the existing nuclear fleet, as well as advanced reactors, fusion facilities, and supporting nuclear infrastructure. She is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.

Send us Fan MailWhat if the biggest problem in nuclear energy isn't reactor technology…but paperwork, regulation, and institutional bottlenecks? Today we explore how AI could compress nuclear deployment timelines from decades to years.Kevin Kong is founder and CEO of Everstar ( https://everstar.ai/ ), a company building advanced AI reasoning systems designed to accelerate the deployment of nuclear power and modernize the infrastructure workflows surrounding the industry.Now when most people think about nuclear innovation, they think about reactors, fusion, uranium, or next-generation fuels. But Kevin and his team are focused on a very different problem - the massive institutional and cognitive bottlenecks that slow nuclear projects down. We're talking about years of regulatory review, millions of pages of compliance documentation, fragmented engineering systems, workforce shortages, operational complexity, and the enormous burden of coordinating safety-critical infrastructure at scale.Everstar is building AI systems intended to transform that process - converting dormant technical documentation into what they call ‘active intelligence.' Their platform combines advanced reasoning models, retrieval systems, multimodal AI, computer vision, and eventually robotics and sensor integrations to help accelerate engineering review, licensing, inspections, compliance workflows, and industrial decision-making inside the nuclear ecosystem.The company recently participated alongside the Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Microsoft in the DOE's Genesis Mission initiative - where Everstar demonstrated AI-assisted nuclear licensing workflows capable of generating NRC-style regulatory documentation in a fraction of the traditional timeline. The project has become an early example of how reasoning-based AI systems may begin operating inside some of the world's most highly regulated industries.Kevin's own background is unusually interdisciplinary. Before entering nuclear, he worked across software engineering, AI infrastructure, data systems, mobility technology, venture investing, and crisis logistics. He held leadership roles at companies including Bird and Rakuten, co-founded the AI data platform Hyperquery, studied economics and organizational sociology at Harvard University, and later pursued nuclear engineering coursework at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.In this conversation, we explore:- why nuclear energy may be essential for the future of AI and civilization-scale energy demand;- how reasoning systems could accelerate infrastructure deployment;- whether AI is ready for high-consequence industries like nuclear;- the future of AI-assisted licensing and compliance;- digital twins, robotics, and autonomous inspections;- the growing energy demands of AI datacenters;and - the deeper question of whether the true bottleneck to civilization is no longer physics…but institutional throughput itself.#NuclearEnergy #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #NuclearPower #EnergyAbundance #SMR #SmallModularReactors #NuclearInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #EnergyInfrastructure #AIInfrastructure #KevinKong #Everstar #AdvancedAI #NuclearEngineering #CleanEnergy #EnergySecurity #MachineLearning #IndustrialAI #Datacenters #FusionEnergy #TechPodcast #FutureTech #EnergyTech #Infrastructure #Robotics #ComputerVision #AIRevolution #NRC #EnergyTransitionSupport the show

This national historic landmark was the world's first nuclear power plant. Idaho National Laboratory's EBR-I atomic museum opens to public tours this Friday.

April 2026 Sustainable Stock and ETF Picks. Includes articles on wind energy, AI infrastructure stocks, and top 20 ESG ETFs. By Ron Robins, MBA Transcript & Links, Episode 166, April 24, 2026 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast episode 166, published on April 24, 2026, titled "April 2026 Sustainable Stock and ETF Picks." This podcast is presented by Investing for the Soul. Investingforthesoul.com is your go-to site for vital global, ethical, and sustainable investing mentoring, news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript and links to content, including stock symbols and bonus material, on this episode's podcast page at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Also, a reminder. I do not evaluate any of the stocks or funds mentioned in these podcasts, and I don't receive any compensation from anyone covered in these podcasts. Furthermore, I will reveal any investments I have in the investments mentioned herein. I have a great crop of 10 articles for you in this podcast! Note: Some companies are covered more than once. Now with so many articles to potentially cover, I've chosen 3 to quote from. Titles and links to the other 7 can be found on the webpage for this podcast edition. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Top Wind Energy Stocks to Buy For Long-Term Portfolio Gain on finance.yahoo.com My first article concerns a sector important to sustainable investing: wind energy. President Trump's antagonism towards wind energy is causing some investors to be concerned about the sector. However, many energy analysts believe that wind energy does have a great future. Hence, I'm beginning this podcast with a recent article titled Top Wind Energy Stocks to Buy For Long-Term Portfolio Gain on finance.yahoo.com. It's by Zacks Equity Research. Here are some quotes from the article. "1. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) Based in Charlotte, NC, is a premier utility service provider offering efficient power and energy services. The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is currently focused on expanding its scale of operations, implementing modern technologies at its facilities as well as enhancing its renewable generation portfolio by investing heavily in infrastructure and expansion projects… Such solid renewable capacity maximization plans should enable the company to further bolster its footprint in the expanding renewable energy market. 2. Constellation Energy (CEG) Headquartered in Baltimore, MD, is a well-recognized provider of electric power, natural gas and energy management services to 2 million customers across the continental United States. Constellation Energy operates 27 wind projects across 10 states that are capable of producing about 1,400 MW of electricity, of which about 750 MW are Constellation-owned. This Zacks Rank #2 company is launching a $350 million initiative to increase the output and lifespan of its portfolio of renewable energy sources. 3. Consolidated Edison (ED) Based in New York, it is a diversified utility holding company with subsidiaries engaged in both regulated and unregulated businesses. The company is involved in the regulated electric, gas and steam delivery businesses across the US. The Zacks Rank #2 company is currently building the Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub, a transmission substation that will strengthen New York's power grid and provide the flexibility for offshore wind resources to interconnect to it during construction and after commencing operation. 4. DTE Energy (DTE ) Detroit, MI-based, is a diversified energy company that develops and manages energy-related businesses and services. The Zacks Rank #2 company has been investing steadily to enhance its renewable generation assets. DTE aims to invest more than $10 billion in the clean energy transition over the next 10 years… The 50-plus wind and solar parks, under this program, already generate enough clean energy to power more than 835,000 homes." End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2) 6 Best Energy Stocks for the AI Power Grid Buildout from money.usnews.com This second article is also about energy stocks, but from an AI perspective. It's titled 6 Best Energy Stocks for the AI Power Grid Buildout from money.usnews.com. It's by Matt Whittaker and reviewed by Rachel McVearry. Here's some of what they have to say. Note that 2 of these stocks focus on natural gas and thus will not interest some of you. "The computing power required for artificial intelligence is much higher than for conventional computing. For example, a ChatGPT search takes about 10 times more electricity than a traditional Google search, according to Kanoppi, a tech company that provides carbon footprint insights for websites. 'The compute and networking infrastructure being built to run current and future AI systems are increasing in both scale and power density,' says John Campbell, senior portfolio manager with Allspring Global Investments… AI data centers also need power to keep the rows upon rows of computers cool enough to keep working… Here's a look at six energy stocks that could power up a portfolio amid the artificial intelligence data center buildout: 1. Powell Industries Inc. (POWL) Campbell points to this energy sector electrical equipment manufacturer as a momentum play… The company has a $1.4 billion backlog of business, with commercial and industrial growth driven by data centers, he notes. He also points to expanding gross margins, improving product mix, good execution and a strong balance sheet with effectively no outstanding debt and about $475 million in cash. Investing in Powell is not without risk, however, as shares are trading at roughly 31 times consensus forward earnings, which Campbell calls an 'extended valuation.' 2. Array Technologies Inc. (ARRY) This company makes ground-mounted, motorized systems that help solar arrays follow the sun to maximize electricity production. It also may be a bargain, with its shares down around 27% this year and Campbell calling it an 'out-of-favor opportunity.' The company grew its revenue 40% in 2025 as order bookings hit a record and volume grew significantly, but its shares sold off because of a disappointing outlook for 2026, Campbell says. 'The increased demand for its product set is fueled by increasing grid energy demand, coupled with the AI infrastructure buildout,' he says. After the sell-off, the company's shares are trading around 10 times consensus estimates for forward earnings, representing a significant discount to its nearest competitor, Nextpower Inc. (NXT), according to Campbell. 3. National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG) Turning to the extraction side of the AI energy equation, Campbell likes this natural gas producer operating in the productive Appalachian Basin that also gathers, transports, distributes and markets the fuel… 'National Fuel Gas Co. is actively positioning itself as a preferred partner for the massive power demand generated by AI and data centers,' Campbell says… Risks for National Fuel Gas Co. include relatively high debt and the capital-intensive nature of the regulated businesses. 4. NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) In December, this utility company announced an expansion of its partnership with Google, saying the companies would collaborate to develop new gigawatt-scale data center campuses across the U.S. NextEra's energy generation capacity mix spans what will be needed for the AI data center buildout. More than half of this capacity is from renewable sources, followed by natural gas and then nuclear. The company plans to add up to 30 gigawatts of generation capacity by 2035 to help power data centers and artificial intelligence… That includes another deal with Google to restart a nuclear plant in Iowa. 5. Archrock Inc. (AROC) Murillo also points to this natural gas compression services and equipment company that serves the U.S. oil and natural gas industry. Compressing natural gas helps it move from wells through pipelines to processing and storage facilities… 6. Energy Vault Holdings Inc. (NRGV) One drawback to renewables such as solar and wind for artificial intelligence data center power is their intermittency. They don't produce electricity when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing. To help smooth this out, companies are deploying batteries to store energy and release it when renewable assets aren't actively generating electricity. Energy Vault develops, deploys and operates utility-scale energy storage solutions including battery, gravity and green hydrogen technologies. Last month, the company announced a deal with battery manufacturer Peak Energy to launch energy storage architecture with lower cooling requirements and improved ability to handle high-volatility power demands created by AI training and inference workloads." End quotes ------------------------------------------------------------- 3) The Top 3 Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now from finance.yahoo.com Increasingly, sustainable investors believe that nuclear energy stocks are permissible in their portfolio. So I'm including in today's podcast this article titled The Top 3 Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now from finance.yahoo.com. It's by John Bromels at fool.com. Now, a few quotes. "With the war in Iran pushing oil and gas prices higher, and the AI revolution contributing to higher electricity prices, alternative energy sources are looking pretty attractive right now. Perhaps none are looking as attractive as nuclear power, which has the advantage of not requiring constant refueling from unpredictable suppliers and the ability to be built anywhere… Here are the top three nuclear stocks to buy right now for investors who want to ride this exciting energy trend. 1. Oklo (NYSE: OKLO)  Early-stage nuclear start-up Oklo has already scored some big wins in its quest to make small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) a reality. The company began construction on its first nuclear facility on the grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory in 2025 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DoE) Reactor Pilot Program. When completed, the reactor facility -- dubbed the 'Aurora Powerhouse' -- is expected to generate 75 megawatts of clean power… Oklo is still in its pre-commercial stage, and there is still a lot that could potentially derail its ultimate commercial success, including regulatory setbacks and operational challenges. It's an inherently risky and speculative stock, and only the very risk-tolerant should even consider investing in Oklo at this stage, and even they should only invest money they can afford to lose. That said, for growth-focused nuclear investors, Oklo is a top buy right now. 2. NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) Regardless of whether nuclear power someday supplants oil and gas as a power source, the world may still be reliant on oil and gas for crucial petrochemicals. However, nuclear start-up NuScale Power-- which, like Oklo, focuses on SMRs -- just signed an agreement that could help petrochemical plants become more energy-efficient. NuScale is partnering with Ebara Elliott Energy, a manufacturer of industrial turbomachinery, to field test a commercial-scale, high-temperature steam compressor powered by NuScale's SMRs. If successful, these compressors could use SMRs to provide process heat for petrochemical plants. While standard light water reactors were previously believed to be unable to reliably produce process steam for industrial applications at a temperature of 500 degrees Celsius or higher, NuScale believes its SMRs are up to the task. If successful, this test could open up a massive new market opportunity for NuScale's SMRs… Like Oklo, NuScale is an early-stage start-up that carries a number of risks for its shareholders. 3. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) If you're not a risk-tolerant investor, or you aren't looking for a pure-play nuclear company, but instead just want to make sure your balanced portfolio includes some nuclear energy stocks, you might consider utility Duke Energy is the second-largest U.S. utility stock, with a $100 billion market cap, and it also has the second-largest nuclear generation portfolio of any U.S. utility company… Duke pays a solid dividend that currently yields 3.3%, which the company has raised every year since 2010." End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- More articles from around the world with Sustainable Investment Picks for April 2026 1. Title: NextEra and Brookfield Lead the Green Energy Movement from intellectia.AI. By Emily J. Thompson. 2. Title: The Energy Transition Isn't Dead. Here Are 2 Green Stocks Worth Buying This Month from fool.com. By James Hires. 3. Title: The Best Sustainable Stocks for Passive Income in 2026 from ca.finance.yahoo.com. By Sneha Nahata. 4. Title: Why Mastercard (MA) is one of the best ethical companies to invest in now according to Reddit from msn.com. By Noor Ul Ain Rehman. 5. Title: This Under-the-Radar AI Infrastructure Stock Looks Primed to Skyrocket from fool.com. By Keithen Drury. 6. Title: The Top US GreenTech Companies of 2026 from time.com. Introduction by TIME Staff. (There are some public companies on the list.) 7. Title: TOP 20 ESG ETFs In 2026 from esgnews.com. By ESG News Editorial Team. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ending Comment These are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips for this podcast, "April 2026 Sustainable Stock and ETF Picks." Please click the like and subscribe buttons wherever you download or listen to this podcast. That helps bring these podcasts to others like you. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let's promote ethical and sustainable investing as a force for hope and prosperity in these tumultuous times! Contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for listening. Again, I want to apologize for my voice sounding, at times, a little rough! My next podcast will be on May 29th. See you then. Bye for now.   © 2025 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul

Aalo Atomics is a three year old company that is focused on designing, manufacturing and deploying nuclear reactors. Their stated goal is to achieve an electricity production cost of less than $0.03 (3 cents) per kilowatt hour. It’s moving fast. It built a 40,000 ft² pilot scale manufacturing plant in Austin, TX in just one year. It plans to achieve initial criticality for Aalo-X, its first commercial scale reactor, in July 2026. That’s less than four months from now. The facility at the Idaho National Laboratory is completed, the reactor and primary systems have been installed. The reactor fuel is being manufactured by Global Nuclear Fuels in Wilmington, NC. The few remaining steps include the Department of Energy’s issuance of the final Documented Safety Analysis, fuel receipt and fuel loading. For many inside and outside the nuclear industry, Aalo’s pace seems to be almost impossible. Even for those who believe it is possible for nuclear systems to be designed, reviewed, licensed and constructed far faster than ever before, the accomplishments approach the incredible stage. For Atomic Show #343, Yasir Arafat, Aalo’s co-founder and Chief Technical Officer enthusiastically shares his company’s story. He tells us how the company and its products were designed and manufactured with efficiency, ease and availability at the center of decision making. The company also decided at a very early stage that it would do everything in its power to manufacture and assemble its machines, taking control of its own destiny wherever possible. He bragged – rightfully so – about the company’s ability to attract exceptional employees, stating their belief that a superstar can be as much as 10 times more productive than an average employee. He described how the company has avoided adding management layers, saying that the team they have assembled does not need anyone to manage their performance. He emphasized that Aalo had assembled a strong network of suppliers with shared motives that help to make the vision achievable. Raw materials, sensors, wiring harnesses and many other parts that aren’t at the top of mind are best purchased rather than built in house. During the discussion, Yasir told stories from his 15-year career as a reactor design engineer at Westinghouse and Idaho National Laboratory that helped to shape his technical and managerial decision making. It’s evident that he has done a lot of personal “lesson learning” and is now applying those learnings with a high performing team. Aalo’s inspiring vision and milestone execution track record have attracted a strong and growing number of risk-accepting investors. Nucleation Capital, the parent company of Atomic Insights and the Atomic Show podcast, has been one of those investors from a very early stage in the company.

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Roya Gordon, a Security Research Evangelist at ICS cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks, started her career as an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy. After her time serving, Roya spent time as a Control Systems Cybersecurity Analyst at the Idaho National Laboratory and then took the role of Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at Accenture. She shares her story after the NSA accepted her and then quickly diverted, creating a new path for Roya to follow. She shares the jobs she went after along the way, leading up to Nozomi Networks and how she wishes to be a trailblazer for young black women everywhere. She hopes to shape young women's minds on what the cybersecurity industry is actually like, in hopes that she can be a figure people look up to. We thank Roya for sharing her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Roya Gordon, a Security Research Evangelist at ICS cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks, started her career as an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy. After her time serving, Roya spent time as a Control Systems Cybersecurity Analyst at the Idaho National Laboratory and then took the role of Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at Accenture. She shares her story after the NSA accepted her and then quickly diverted, creating a new path for Roya to follow. She shares the jobs she went after along the way, leading up to Nozomi Networks and how she wishes to be a trailblazer for young black women everywhere. She hopes to shape young women's minds on what the cybersecurity industry is actually like, in hopes that she can be a figure people look up to. We thank Roya for sharing her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Idaho National Laboratory and NVIDIA have partnered to accelerate nuclear energy research in order to make positive impacts on the country as a whole. Nuclear energy is used to help develop things like medicine and construction parts.

The Zscaler Public Sector Summit, Robert Roser, CISO, CDO and director of cybersecurity at Idaho National Laboratory, discussed the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape facing government and critical infrastructure. He joined GovCIO Media & Research at the event to explain how malicious actors are increasingly using AI to launch more sophisticated phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks while also lowering the barrier to entry for less-skilled hackers. He also shared how his team is strengthening defenses through zero trust principles, stronger identity protections and new guardrails for AI use. As cyber threats grow more complex, Roser emphasized that cybersecurity is not just an IT issue — it is a responsibility shared across the entire organization.

Interview with Greg Trahan, LSU Assistant Vice President For Strategic Research Partnerships and Dr. John Flake, Associate Vice President For Research, Professor Chemical Engineering LSU and U.S. Army Cyber Command signed an agreement to develop advanced cyber technologies, providing students and researchers access to defense labs and joint projects. Building on its NSA cyber designation, LSU will use unique industrial control system labs to identify and solve advanced cyberattacks against critical national infrastructure. LSU partnered with Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories to bridge energy research with industrial applications, focusing on nuclear energy, chemical manufacturing, and grid security. A new "Tiger Skid" test bed, built with Idaho National Laboratory, allows LSU to lead national cybersecurity training for defending vital industrial and energy systems.

A compilation of three shows on the Idaho National Laboratory:A Peace of the Nuclear Puzzle: From Nagasaki to the Idaho National Laboratory (8/12/24)Incurring on Disclosure: Idaho's Atomic Marvels (6/28/22)Untold History of Idaho's National Lab: From Nuclear Experiments to UFOs (6/7/21)*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable PAYPAL: rdgable1991@gmail.comRyan's Books: https://thesecretteachings.info- EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / rdgable1991@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Trey Lauderdale is the CEO and Founder of Atomic Canyon, a company bringing artificial intelligence into the nuclear energy sector. Atomic Canyon recently deployed the first commercial on-site generative AI system at a U.S. nuclear facility. While AI's growth is creating massive demand for reliable, clean baseload power, Atomic Canyon explores the reverse question: does nuclear need AI just as much to solve workforce shortages and accelerate new reactor deployment? Trey's path to nuclear is unconventional. After building and selling a healthcare communications platform, he moved to San Luis Obispo and discovered he lived 10 miles from California's last nuclear plant. That proximity led to applying lessons from one highly regulated industry to another. In just two years, Trey has built partnerships with PG&E and Diablo Canyon, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory, the kind of institutional relationships that typically take years to establish in the nuclear industry. Perhaps that speed says something about both the urgency of the problem and the credibility of the solution.Episode recorded on Aug 12, 2025 (Published on Nov 19, 2025)In this episode, we cover: [2:49] An overview of Atomic Canyon[04:45] Trey's  path from healthcare to nuclear [08:50] The myths vs reality of nuclear power plants[10:41] Understanding nuclear's administrative bottlenecks [12:14] How Trey started Atomic Canyon with no nuclear experience [17:59] Learning from Diablo leadership and facility[20:24] Deploying the first on-premise nuclear AI system[23:39] Security measures for data sets[29:23] Building NuclearBench with Idaho National Lab[32:02] Scaling from one plant to fleet-wide adoption[38:53] Where Atomic Canyon needs help [40:09] The company's funding to date Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Artificial intelligence depends on its ability to draw insights from massive datasets, but size alone isn't the goal.   This week on Feds At the Edge, our panel of experts explore how smarter data management can make AI faster, more efficient, and more reliable by focusing on clean, well-labeled, and right-sized information.   Years ago, scientists dreamed of capturing data from sources as vast as satellites and as precise as atomic sensors. That dream is now reality, and today's challenge is ensuring that this flood of data is organized and manageable.   Thane Price of Idaho National Laboratory shares how reducing duplicative data and streamlining metadata helps AI learn more effectively. Gulan Shakir from the National Archives and Records Administration discusses how modern cloud infrastructure accelerates data transfer compared to legacy systems. And Cloudera's Kevin Talbert explains how proper data cataloging, synthetic datasets, and metadata management enhance testing and training for AI models.   

In June, Utah Governor Spencer Cox became Chair of the Western Governors' Association. His Chair Initiative, Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West, will explore how states can expand energy production, transmission, and storage to meet rising demand and achieve true energy abundance across the region. In this episode of Out West, WGA Executive Director Jack Waldorf sits down with Governor Cox to talk about the inspiration and vision behind his new initiative. You'll also hear from WGA Policy Advisor Abby Pelsmaeker, who spoke with Emy Lesofski, Director of the Utah Office of Energy Development, to learn more about Utah's approach to energy innovation—and how it can help seize the opportunities shaping our nation's energy future. Finally, you'll hear from John Wagner, the Laboratory Director at the Idaho National Laboratory, who spoke at the first Energy Superabundance workshop about the unique factors driving today's nuclear resurgence—one he says is unlike anything he's seen in his 30-year career.      Finally, WGA would like to thank our initiative partners: Advanced Energy United; American Clean Power; Amazon Web Services; ClearPath; Deloitte; Idaho National Laboratory; Iron Workers International; JP Morgan Chase; National Hydropower Association; NextEra Energy; Nuclear Energy Institute; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Southwest Power Pool, and Williams Companies. 

Washington's Nuclear Caucus visited Idaho National Laboratory to see firsthand how advanced fuels and small modular reactors could help meet the state's growing energy demand. With pressure from AI data centers, electric vehicles, and heating needs, nuclear power may become a key piece of Washington's clean energy strategy. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/nuclear-caucus-visits-idaho-national-lab-to-explore-energy-solutions-for-washington-state/ #Washington #Energy #Politics #Nuclear #CleanEnergy #AI #ElectricVehicles #JohnLey #SmallModularReactors #NetZeroGoals

This is Derek Miller, Speaking on Business. Idaho National Laboratory has spent over 75 years advancing scientific research in nuclear technology. Its pioneering work has served as the foundation for more than 300 commercial nuclear power reactors operating worldwide. Regional Engagement Lead, Laura Nelson, joins us with more. Laura Nelson: As one of 17 national laboratories in the U.S. Department of Energy complex, we're proud to call Idaho National Laboratory home to more than 6,400 researchers and support staff. Every day, we work to advance innovations in nuclear research, integrated energy systems, and security solutions that are transforming the world. From groundbreaking discoveries in advanced nuclear energy to developing reliable, sustainable energy options and protecting the nation's most critical infrastructure, our talented team is constantly pushing boundaries to redefine what's possible. Through strong partnerships with organizations, universities, and industry leaders, we help drive research and development across Utah's diverse energy ecosystem. These collaborations foster innovation, create economic opportunities, and strengthen the region's leadership in clean, secure, and resilient energy systems. Learn more about Idaho National Laboratory's work and partnerships by visiting INL.gov. Derek Miller: Idaho National Laboratory turns innovation into real-world results, helping the state lead in energy, support local industries, and create lasting benefits for residents and the economy. I'm Derek Miller, with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business. Originally aired: 9/17/25

Brian Smith, former Navy officer, federal executive, and now Director of Nuclear Reactor Development at Idaho National Laboratory, joins the latest Nomad Futurist Podcast with co-hosts Nabeel Mahmood and Phillip Koblence. He shares his unexpected journey and how it prepared him to help solve one of today's most critical challenges: powering the digital age. “Nothing is off the table.” With that bold opener, Brian set the tone for an honest and wide-ranging discussion — the kind needed in an industry we strive to demystify. Brian's path didn't start in labs or government halls but rather began on golf courses. Once immersed in the world of elite tournaments with the USGA, he seemed destined for a future in sports. But after the tragic events of 9/11, and drawn by a family legacy of service, Brian answered the call and joined the Navy, where he rose quickly through the ranks: “I thought golf was my future… but I've always felt a call to serve. That call to service was pretty widespread for folks like me.” That sense of purpose carried him into the Navy's nuclear propulsion program, where he discovered a passion for technology and translating complex ideas into action, especially for policy and government decision-makers. Now, Brian sits at the intersection of advanced nuclear development and the surging energy demands of AI and hyperscale infrastructure. With a deep background in defense nuclear policy and a sharp understanding of both systems and people, he offers a rare perspective on what's next: “The data center industry is starting to view nuclear power the same way the Navy views nuclear submarines.” Yet despite the scale and complexity of his work, Brian grounds his success, and the industry's future, in something deeply human: “This is a human-driven business.... And the beauty is [we] are representative of our industry... [And] the networks in this industry are what make it [thrive].” Brian's story is a masterclass in adaptability, service, and communication. It's a reminder that curiosity, commitment, and community are what truly power progress. Connect with Brian Smith on LinkedIn to follow his insights on powering the next generation of infrastructure.

Can artificial intelligence make federal decisions smarter?   Artificial intelligence is transforming how government agencies train, manage infrastructure, and make critical choices, but with that power comes high-stakes challenges.  This week on Feds At The Edge, experts cut through the hype to explore AI's real challenges and opportunities for federal leaders. Joe Cheng, CTO for Posit, highlights the core problem: while getting answers from AI is easy, verifying those answers is much harder. Jaime Fitzgibbon, AI/ML Portfolio at DIU, underscores that when it comes to combat decisions, human judgment must remain at the center. And Chris Ritter, Division Director of Scientific Computing & AI and Director of the Digital Innovation Center of Excellence, Idaho National Laboratory, likens searching for reliable federal data to finding a needle in a haystack, and shares how open-source verification can help.  AI's potential is undeniable, but its success in government depends on trust, transparency, and human judgment.     Listen now on your favorite podcast platform to learn how federal leaders can harness this powerful tool, without losing sight of its limits.            

In July, the Trump administration released what it calls an AI action plan. In it, along with several executive orders, the White House lays out its vision for building and expanding the country's AI infrastructure.  Key tenets of that vision include removing regulatory hurdles and accelerating US dominance in the industry. It also has broad energy and security implications. So how could the administration's high-risk, high-reward approach increase US market share in AI? Will it create tensions with major AI companies while potentially democratizing access to AI capabilities? And how does the plan diverge from Biden-era AI support, especially around environmental and energy considerations? To discuss the action plan, we convened some of the leading AI experts at the Center for Global Energy Policy in early August, and this week on Columbia Energy Exchange we are sharing an audio recording of their discussion.  David Sandalow, CGEP's inaugural fellow and the host of the AI, Energy and Climate podcast, moderated the panel. David also co-directs the Energy and Environment Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and was the lead author of the “Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap” report for the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum. Aaron Bartnick, Jared Dunnmon, and Ashley Finan joined David on the webinar. Aaron Bartnick is a global fellow at CGEP, where he focuses on technology and economic security. He also serves as chief of staff at the neural engineering company Science Corporation and as a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Critical Technology Initiative. Jared Dunnmon is a non-resident CGEP fellow and the co-founder and chief scientist of a maritime logistics startup. He previously served in the Department of Defense as technical director for artificial intelligence at the Defense Innovation Unit, was vice president of future technologies at battery firm Our Next Energy, and was an early team member at Snorkel AI. Ashley Finan is a CGEP global fellow who previously served in senior leadership roles at Idaho National Laboratory, where she worked on nuclear energy and national security issues.  Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.  

“Software makes me money, but linguistics makes me happy” Logan Kearsley is an experienced software engineer with a history in the education, solar power, and entertainment industries. He earned a BS in Computer Science and an MA in Linguistics, both from Brigham Young University, and is currently employed as a software engineer at Idaho National Laboratory. He blogs about conlangs and xenolinguistics, and he has a YouTube channel where he reads Beowulf. Logan Kearsley on LinkedIn Logan Kearsley’s blog Logan Kearsley on YouTube (Daily Beowulf) A Hybrid Approach to Cross-Linguistic Tokenization: Morphology with Statistics Topics include: – computational morphology – animal communication – networking – lexicography – conlanging – xenolinguistics – typologyThe post Episode #75: Logan Kearsley first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

Climate imperatives, national security, and the need for reliable, carbon-free, dispatchable power to meet rising electricity demand are all contributing to a resurgence in nuclear energy. The United States is taking a leading role in this industry's growth. Tech companies are signing major deals for nuclear energy to meet their growing energy needs. And President Trump recently signed four executive orders aimed at dramatically increasing nuclear power generation — an issue with rare bipartisan support. But significant challenges remain. Cost overruns and delays, as seen with the troubled Vogtle project in Georgia, are hampering power plant construction in the US. Meanwhile, China and Russia are dominating global nuclear construction and fuel, raising questions about American competitiveness and national security. So can the United States become a leader in nuclear energy deployment, without sacrificing safety? What role will new technologies and policy play in changing the trajectory? And what part should the US government play in financing, regulating, and promoting nuclear energy both domestically and internationally? This week, Jason Bordoff speaks with Ashley Finan and Matt Bowen about the drivers behind this nuclear resurgence and why, as they argue in a recent Foreign Policy article, it is vital to meet rising electricity demand.  Ashley recently joined the Center on Global Energy Policy as a global fellow after serving in senior leadership roles at Idaho National Laboratory, where she worked on nuclear energy and national security issues. Matt is a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, where he focuses on nuclear energy policy, economics, and regulation. Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.  

The Idaho National Laboratory is working on a suite of artificial intelligence capabilities to enhance nuclear energy research. During an interview at AWS Summit in Washington, D.C., the lab's Scientific Computing Division Director Chris Ritter discussed how the organization is using generative AI to address complex scientific challenges across domains like reactor design and operations. The lab successfully created a digital twin of an aging reactor, streaming real-time data to the cloud and using multiple machine-learning models to predict operational parameters. Ritter emphasized the broader implications of AI integration in these areas, like how “AI jams” engage scientists and lab directors to explore it. The approach represents a comprehensive strategy to not only advance scientific research, but also prepare the workforce for an AI-driven future.

Three decades after a monumental agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy over radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel storage, Idaho this week agreed to a waiver that will allow the federal government to send a cask of spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory. Plus, increased attention on wildfire management and the possible impacts of the Trump administration's budget proposal.

The U.S. nuclear industry is entering a new era—one that demands cutting-edge research, advanced reactor technologies, and stronger collaboration across the energy ecosystem. And now, that future has a new launchpad: the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL) at the Idaho National Laboratory. As the first hot cell facility built by the U.S. Department of Energy in nearly half a century, the SPL is designed to push the boundaries of nuclear materials science. From its autonomous robotic systems to its modular infrastructure, this lab promises to accelerate the pace of discovery while opening doors to collaboration among utilities, researchers, and policymakers. Listen in as Power Perspectives sits down with Colin Judge, Division Director for Nuclear Materials Performance at INL and a key leader behind this groundbreaking initiative, as he shares how this new lab will serve as a critical tool for understanding how materials perform in extreme environments—an essential piece of the puzzle as the energy industry looks to next-generation nuclear technologies. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/inside-doe-nuclear-research-facility-50-years-making Video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0cRJR4xKR0o Idaho National Lab on Energy Central: https://energycentral.com/o/idaho-national-labs Ask a Question to Our Future Guests: Do you have a burning question for the utility executives and energy industry thought leaders that we feature each week on Power Perspectives? Leave us a message here for your chance to be featured in an upcoming episode: www.speakpipe.com/EnergyCentralPodcast

When you think of innovative advancements in nuclear power technology, places like the Idaho National Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology probably come to mind. But today, some very exciting nuclear power development work is being done in West Texas, specifically, at Abilene Christian University (ACU). That's where Natura Resources is working to construct a molten salt–cooled, liquid-fueled reactor (MSR). “We are in the process of building, most likely, the country's first advanced nuclear reactor,” Doug Robison, founder and CEO of Natura Resources, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. Natura has taken an iterative, milestone-based approach to advanced reactor development and deployment, focused on efficiency and performance. This started in 2020 when the company brought together ACU's NEXT Lab with Texas A&M University; the University of Texas, Austin; and the Georgia Institute of Technology to form the Natura Resources Research Alliance. In only four years, Natura and its partners developed a unique nuclear power system and successfully licensed the design. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit for deployment of the system at ACU last September. Called the MSR-1, ACU's unit will be a 1-MWth molten salt research reactor (MSRR). It is expected to provide valuable operational data to support Natura's 100-MWe systems. It will also serve as a “world-class research tool” to train advanced reactor operators and educate students, the company said. Natura is not only focused on its ACU project, but it is also moving forward on commercial reactor projects. In February, the company announced the deployment of two advanced nuclear projects, which are also in Texas. These deployments, located in the Permian Basin and at Texas A&M University's RELLIS Campus, represent significant strides in addressing energy and water needs in the state. “Our first was a deployment of a Natura commercial reactor in the Permian Basin, which is where I spent my career. We're partnering with a Texas produced-water consortium that was created by the legislature in 2021,” said Robison. One of the things that can be done with the high process heat from an MSR is desalinization. “So, we're going to be desalinating produced water and providing power—clean power—to the oil and gas industry for their operations in the Permian Basin,” said Robison. Meanwhile, at Texas A&M's RELLIS Campus, which is located about eight miles northwest of the university's main campus in College Station, Texas, a Natura MSR-100 reactor will be deployed. The initiative is part of a broader project known as “The Energy Proving Ground,” which involves multiple nuclear reactor companies. The project aims to bring commercial-ready small modular reactors (SMRs) to the site, providing a reliable source of clean energy for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

The Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 was a small boiling-water reactor built at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 3, 1961, during a restart of the reactor, a catastrophic tragedy unfolded when the reactor went supercritical. Research: Divison of Technical Information Extension, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “SL-1 The Accident, Phases I and II.” https://www.osti.gov/sciencecinema/biblio/1129428 Francisco, A.D. and E. T. Tomlinson. “Analysis of the SL-1 Accident Using RELAP5-3D.” Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. 2007 International RELAP5 User’s Seminar. November 7 -9, 2007. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/39/038/39038759.pdf?r=1 Idaho National Laboratory. “SL-1, Idaho: Just the Facts.” https://factsheets.inl.gov/FactSheets/Just%20the%20Facts_SL-1.pdf O’Connor, Bryan. “Supercritical: SL-1 Nuclear Reactor Explosion.” NASA. September 2007. https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-09-01-sl1nuclearreactorexplosion-vits.pdf McKeown, William. “Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident.” ECW Press. 2003. Perry, E.F. “Stationary Low Power Reactor No. 1 (SL-1) Accident Site Decontamination & Dismantlement Project.” Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies. 10/27/1995. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/27/029/27029475.pdf?r=1 SL-1 Accident Briefing Report - 1961 Nuclear Reactor Meltdown Educational Documentary. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. https://www.osti.gov/sciencecinema/biblio/1122857 Sommers, Bryan W. “Idaho Falls: The First Nuclear Meltdown in America’s History.” 4/11/2024. https://www.argonelectronics.com/blog/idaho-falls-first-nuclear-meltdown-in-americas-history Stacy, Susan M. “Proving the Principle.” Idaho Operations Office of the Department of Energy Idaho Falls, Idaho. 2000. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “IDO Report on the Nuclear Incident at the SL-1 Reactor, January 3, 1961, National Reactor Testing Station.” U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Idaho Operations Office. US Atomic Energy Commission. “REPORT ON THE SL-1 INCIDENT, JANUARY 3, 1961” https://archive.org/details/SL1PressRelease1961 Wander, Steve, executive editor. “Supercritical.” System Failure Case Studies. Vol. 1, Issue 4. https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-09-01-sl1nuclearreactorexplosion.pdf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marc Stewart is from Sugar City, Idaho. He served a mission in the Columbia South Carolina Mission. Brother Stewart received a bachelor's degree from BYU-Idaho in business finance and an MBA from Western Governor's University. He worked at the Idaho National Laboratory for six years as a Planning and Financial Controls Specialist, four years at BYU-Idaho in a few financial roles, six years at BYU-Idaho Pathway Worldwide as the Budget Officer, and then at BYU-Idaho as the Budget Officer. Brother Stewart has been married to his wife, Taunia, for 23 years. They have four children, two boys and two girls. He has served as Sunday School president, Young Men's president, elders quorum president, ward clerk, counselor in the bishopric, high councilor, and stake presidency counselor. He currently serves as a priest quorum advisor.

Podcast: (CS)²AI Podcast Show: Control System Cyber SecurityEpisode: Cyber Informed Engineering: Protecting Critical Infrastructure with Ginger WrightPub date: 2024-11-19Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationDerek Harp hosts Virginia "Ginger" Wright, a program manager at Idaho National Laboratory, known for her pioneering work in cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. Ginger shares the history and importance of Cyber Informed Engineering (CIE) and how this engineering philosophy integrates safety protocols directly into the design of industrial systems, making them resilient against cyber threats. They discuss the origins of CIE in nuclear energy safety, the unique assets of Idaho National Laboratory, and the vital role engineers play in safeguarding critical infrastructure. Ginger also dives into practical resources like the Cyber Informed Engineering Implementation Guide, sharing how organizations and educators can adopt this methodology. Join us for insights into CIE's impact on the future of OT and ICS cybersecurity.The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Derek Harp, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Derek Harp hosts Virginia "Ginger" Wright, a program manager at Idaho National Laboratory, known for her pioneering work in cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. Ginger shares the history and importance of Cyber Informed Engineering (CIE) and how this engineering philosophy integrates safety protocols directly into the design of industrial systems, making them resilient against cyber threats. They discuss the origins of CIE in nuclear energy safety, the unique assets of Idaho National Laboratory, and the vital role engineers play in safeguarding critical infrastructure. Ginger also dives into practical resources like the Cyber Informed Engineering Implementation Guide, sharing how organizations and educators can adopt this methodology. Join us for insights into CIE's impact on the future of OT and ICS cybersecurity.

Microreactors are a class of very small modular reactors targeted for non-conventional nuclear markets. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports a variety of advanced reactor designs, including gas, liquid-metal, molten-salt, and heat-pipe-cooled concepts. In the U.S., microreactor developers are currently focused on designs that could be deployed as early as the mid-2020s. The key features of microreactors that distinguish them from other reactor types mainly revolve around their size. Microreactors typically produce less than 20 MW of thermal output. The size obviously allows a much smaller footprint than traditional nuclear power reactors. It also allows for factory fabrication and easier transportability. Among other unique aspects are their self-regulating capability, which could enable remote and semi-autonomous microreactor operation. Their rapid deployability (weeks or months rather than many years) is a huge benefit, too, allowing units to be used in emergency response and other time-sensitive situations. Furthermore, some designs are expected to operate for up to 10 years or more without refueling or significant maintenance, which could be a big benefit in remote locations. A lot of microreactor development work is being done at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). John H. Jackson, National Technical Director for the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy Microreactor program at INL, was a recent guest on The POWER Podcast. On the show, he noted some of the programs and facilities INL has available to assist in proving microreactor concepts. “I like to say it starts with my program, because I'm overtly focused on enabling and accelerating commercial development and deployment of microreactor technology,” Jackson said. “But there are certainly the entities like the National Reactor Innovation Center, or NRIC, which is heavily focused on deployment and enabling deployment of microreactor technology, as well as small modular reactor technology.” POWER has reported extensively on the Pele and MARVEL microreactor projects. Project Pele is a Department of Defense (DOD) project that recently broke ground at INL. Meanwhile, MARVEL, which stands for Microreactor Applications Research Validation and EvaLuation, is funded through the DOE by the Office of Nuclear Energy's Microreactor program. Project Pele aims to build and demonstrate a high-temperature gas-cooled mobile microreactor manufactured by Lynchburg, Virginia–headquartered BWXT Advanced Technologies. Fueled with TRI-structural ISOtropic particle fuel, Project Pele will produce 1 MWe to 5 MWe for INL's Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex (CITRC) electrical test grid. The DOD noted last month that assembly of the final Pele reactor is scheduled to begin in February 2025, and the current plan is to transport the fully assembled reactor to INL in 2026. The MARVEL design is a sodium-potassium-cooled microreactor that will be built inside the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility at INL. It will generate 85 kW of thermal energy and about 20 kW of electrical output. It is not intended to be a commercial design, but the experience of constructing and operating the unit could be crucial for future microreactor developers and microgrid designers, as future plans are to connect it to a microgrid. “The MARVEL reactor is one of the top priorities, if not the top priority, at the Idaho National Laboratory, along with the project Pele,” Jackson said. “One or the other—Pele or MARVEL—will be the first reactor built at Idaho National Laboratory in over 50 years.” Still, Jackson was cautious when it came to predicting when the first microreactor might begin operation. “I cringe sometimes when people get a little ahead of themselves and start making bold declarations, like, ‘We're going to have a microreactor next year,' for instance. I think it's important to be excited, but it's also important to stay realistic with respect to timeframes for deployment,” he said.

Years of Service: 1996-Present  Karl had always been fascinated with law enforcement but when he was attending college, he found that he had a knack for chemistry and math and decided that getting a degree in chemical engineering was the smart way to go. Karl worked at the Idaho National Laboratory for several years but was not fulfilled in what he was doing.  In 1996, Karl became a reserve deputy for the Shelly Police Department and knew he had found his calling. Karl took a substantial pay cut to pursue his dream but said he never regretted making the jump into law enforcement.  In 2005, Karl was hired by the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office and after a short while on patrol was promoted to detective. Karl gravitated toward sexual assault cases but as a detective handled investigations such as domestic violence, fraud, and homicide. Karl used the analytical thinking gained from his chemical engineering degree to investigate his cases and prided himself in taking a different approach to his cases than a traditional detective.  In addition to his detective duties, Karl was also a SWAT negotiator.  Today Karl works as a cold case investigator for the Idaho State Police investigating cases that are in need of a fresh perspective to bring justice for the victims.

August 6 and 9, 1945, mark the dates when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed with atomic weapons. At the Nagasaki memorial gathering last week, Israel was not invited causing the US to also refuse attendance. Most of us have at least heard of the Manhattan Project, but probably know very little about it. For one, there was an occult element present involving Nazi occultism, Jewish mysticism, and alchemy. For two, after Hanford was decommission, being one of the main laboratories in the project alongside Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Argonne, much of the waste was dumped in a remote part of Idaho. Located just east of Craters of the Moon monument is the Idaho National Laboratory, a sort of Department of Energy Area 51. This area of Idaho is home to the first nuclear reactor - which powered the nearby town of Arco, the first in the world to be lit by nuclear energy - dozens of accidental and intentional reactor meltdowns, experiments on nuclear powered cars and planes, and dozens of both accidental leaks and intentional exposures to radiation involving humans, animals, water, etc. INL has been criticized - by the few who know - for their handling of nuclear waste and its dumping into the area's water supply, and for employee health problem caused by accidental and intentional exposures. For all the propaganda that revolves around INL, beyond its relative secrecy, the federal government has paid hundreds of millions in settlements. Idaho also has the highest per-capita UFO reports, reminding us of the UFO's interest in nuclear technology.-FREE ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachings Twitter: https://twitter.com/TST___Radio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachings WEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early show access): http://thesecretteachings.info Paypal: rdgable@yahoo.com CashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.com

August 6 and 9, 1945, mark the dates when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed with atomic weapons. At the Nagasaki memorial gathering last week, Israel was not invited causing the US to also refuse attendance. Most of us have at least heard of the Manhattan Project, but probably know very little about it. For one, there was an occult element present involving Nazi occultism, Jewish mysticism, and alchemy. For two, after Hanford was decommission, being one of the main laboratories in the project alongside Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Argonne, much of the waste was dumped in a remote part of Idaho. Located just east of Craters of the Moon monument is the Idaho National Laboratory, a sort of Department of Energy Area 51. This area of Idaho is home to the first nuclear reactor - which powered the nearby town of Arco, the first in the world to be lit by nuclear energy - dozens of accidental and intentional reactor meltdowns, experiments on nuclear powered cars and planes, and dozens of both accidental leaks and intentional exposures to radiation involving humans, animals, water, etc. INL has been criticized - by the few who know - for their handling of nuclear waste and its dumping into the area's water supply, and for employee health problem caused by accidental and intentional exposures. For all the propaganda that revolves around INL, beyond its relative secrecy, the federal government has paid hundreds of millions in settlements. Idaho also has the highest per-capita UFO reports, reminding us of the UFO's interest in nuclear technology.-FREE ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachings Twitter: https://twitter.com/TST___Radio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachings WEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early show access): http://thesecretteachings.info Paypal: rdgable@yahoo.com CashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.com

✈ A quick note: I will be traveling through the middle of the month and will be posting a bit less than usual and perhaps a bit shorter than usual.After decades of resistance to nuclear power, growing concern over climate change, rising electricity needs, and a desire for greater energy independence are spurring renewed public interest in a future powered by atomic fission (perhaps fusion, too). Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I talk to Dr. Mike Goff about the state of US nuclear power, the developing advancements in nuclear technology, and what it will take to reach our vast potential.Goff is the acting assistant secretary and the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy. He previously spent over 30 years at Idaho National Laboratory, including a major advisory and management role. He has written over 70 publications on the nuclear fuel cycle.In This Episode* Atomic Age 2.0 (1:31)* Major concerns (7:37)* Out of practice (11:04)* Next-generation policy (17:38)* Human capital (21:48)* Fusion forecast (23:12)Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversationAtomic Age 2.0 (1:31)The Energy Secretary recently spoke about adding a lot more nuclear capacity, tripling it, I think, by 2050 or so. And before we get into whether that's possible, I wanted to ask you: As you understand it, what is the current consensus explanation for why the Nuclear and Atomic Age of the '50s and '60s, why that kind of ended? Because when the secretary spoke about building more capacity, I thought about the — and this is something maybe a lot of people are unaware of, that President Nixon had a plan to build a lot of more nuclear reactors in this country back in the '70s during the oil crisis; that didn't happen, and we all know about Three Mile Island. But is there a consensus as to why Atomic Age 1.0 came to an end? Obviously we still get a lot of energy from nuclear, but not what people had imagined 40 years ago.There are a variety of reasons. We did build a lot at one point, and we were building 10 plants a year, pretty extensive builds out there. We did then have Three Mile Island in the late '70s, and then we got costs started going up, and schedules started increasing on the builds, and we ended up not having a lot of energy growth, in fact, we went for a long period where we weren't having a lot of energy growth, and we had a lot of other energy sources, natural gas, coal, and all. We had a lot of other energy sources out there as well. So yeah, we became pretty stagnated around 20 percent of the electricity. But now, like you say, yeah, there's been a big change in what we think the needs are for nuclear going forward, for a variety of reasons.My background is journalism, and as a journalist I've written, I know, multiple stories in my life about a Nuclear Renaissance. So I'm wondering why this time looks to be different. You suggested in your previous answer that there might be some reasons. What are those reasons that we may be entering a new age where we will see an expansion in the nuclear sector?I do think we will see that expansion, and, in fact, I think we have to see that expansion, and it's because of a lot of the positive attributes of nuclear right now. Obviously there's a lot of focus on trying to get more clean energy out there, and nuclear is a large base load source of clean energy. And it's not just CO2 emission, but it doesn't emit particulates and all, as well, so it's good air, good quality of life. So it has those key attributes. But there are other clean energy sources as well: renewables, hydro, and all that. But I think the recognition that, if you are going to go toward decarbonization, you need still base load electricity too. You need base load electricity to help intermittent sources like renewables to be able to expand more as well. So nuclear is very good at enabling decarbonization, not just by adding clean electricity to the grid, but enabling you to expand out other renewables like wind and solar and all, as well.Additionally, nuclear is very reliable. Of the energy sources, it has the highest capacity factor of any of the energy sources. In the United States, we run 93 percent of the time, so the existing fleet that we have out there of 94 plants, they're producing a 100 percent of the power 93 percent of the time, which dwarfs what any other energy source does out there as well.Nuclear is safe. At times people are concerned about safety, but, in reality, it's actually one of the safest energy sources out there and continues to demonstrate that.It's resilient for different weather-related events. It can still produce electricity out there as well. It also has a lot of energy security. And as we've learned, unfortunately, from Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, we recognize energy security is national security, so nuclear really does help us on that national security front. It provides an energy source that we can largely on-source from us and our allies. We've got assured fuel supplies, and provides that long-term power. You can put fuel in it and it can last for two years or so.And I guess one other thing I'll add out there as well, is it's a job creator. Of the different energy sources, the amount of jobs associated with nuclear are some of the highest on the amount of electricity produced. And when you actually start building nuclear, like we saw in Vogtle in Georgia where they were building the two plants, it creates huge amounts of jobs. In fact, I heard a stat recently that 35,000 union workers were trained as part of the construction of the Vogtle power plant, so it's a good job creator in all, as well. And again, the power density is great, it doesn't take up a lot of space, and with the advanced technologies that we've developed in the United States, you've continued to increase in the safety, you can have plants of a variety of different sizes that can be easily deployed to, say, retiring coal plants. It just has a lot of flexibility that it hasn't had in the past, but also it's that key recognition of its clean energy attributes, but its energy security attributes as well.Major concerns (7:37)I did not major in nuclear science, I majored in history and political science, but I remember I took a class as an undergraduate at Northwestern University on the nuclear fuel cycle, and I remember to this day that my professor — of course, this was obviously a while ago, and I think what most of the students knew about nuclear energy was probably Three Mile Island — and I remember to this day distinctly the professor saying, “If they wanted to build a nuclear reactor in my backyard, I would be totally fine with it.” He had zero fear on the safety issue. Now when you give that rap that you just gave me about the wonders of nuclear energy before regular people, what is their response? Do they worry about the nuclear waste? Do they worry about safety? Are they immediately sold, or what are the concerns that typically get raised to you?You brought them up. I mean, safety is brought up because you do see these high profile accidents like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima, which were accidents. They weren't good things that you want to have happen, but the industry's also a very learning industry. The improvements that come out of those events have just made the industry even safer and safer. And again, it's still safer than most any other electricity-producing industry out there as well.Waste does get brought up. We have not implemented a final disposal solution for the spent fuel from our reactors, but we have safely stored and managed the spent fuel over the last six decades, and the amount of fuel that's generated, I think the stat that gets tossed around, you could fit it all in a Walmart parking lot. This is not a lot of material because it's a high energy-density fuel. It's not a lot of material, and again, we safely manage that and store that. We have countries now that are moving forward with geological repositories, which we need to be doing in the United States. In fact, just last week, I went and visited the repository that hopefully will be operating next year in Finland for disposing of their spent fuel. We can do that, it's not a technical issue, so we can safely manage the spent fuel.The other issue that always comes up is still cost. We do have to demonstrate now that we can build these plants safely, and efficiently, and at a reasonable cost. On the Vogtle plant there were cost overruns and schedule overruns, but between Vogtle Unit 3 and Unit 4, there was about a 30 percent reduction in costs between those plants, so we are starting to get to where we can be deploying nth-of-a-kind cost plants out there as well. And hopefully with some of the small modular reactor designs and all that are going to rely more on modular construction, we can even get to nth-of-a-kind cost even quicker. It still takes some pushing and understanding to make sure that people do understand the advancements that have been made on nuclear technology, that it's not our parents' nuclear technology, there's a new round of technology out there.Out of practice (11:04)You raised two good points there. The cost issue, and that's a great stat about the Vogtle plant and the reduction between the two reactors. Is it your sense that the fact that we haven't been consistently building reactors and learning from the previous build, and having trained people who've worked on multiple reactors, that each one has become like this bespoke mega project? It's my sense, and it seems logical, at least to me, that that has been a cost driver, that we haven't been able to churn these out like 10 a year, every year, decade after decade, because clearly, if that was the case, I don't see how we don't learn how to build them better, faster, and more efficiently. But that's not what we've been doing, obviously.That's right. It's not. Even when I say with Vogtle, you had to stand back up the whole supply chain, you had to retrain the workforce, so there was a lot of learning in that process, even though, too, we did recognize on that plant you need to have designs very well finalized and standardized as well. One of the problems we realized from the buildout of the 90-something plants that we have now is no two plants were ever that similar. Everyone wanted to make a tweak in their plant, so we never got to where we had standardized designs. So I think now that we're getting that trained workforce, getting the supply chain up there, and our vendors are really saying, “We're doing standardized plants. If someone else wants to make a tweak on this plant, they have to go somewhere else,” that people are going to go with standardized designs so we can really replicate these and get that cost benefit from it. The challenges that you brought up, we have to overcome, and I think we're set up now to be able to overcome that. I appreciate all the effort that went into building Units 3 and 4 at Vogtle. We've got enough benefit from that learning there and hopefully build very soon here.There's a world where we have tripled our nuclear generating capacity, as Secretary Granholm said. Can that be a world where we get all our nuclear power from light water nuclear reactors, or must there be different kinds of reactors? You mentioned the small modular reactors, and I've interviewed startups doing microreactors, I don't know, maybe they'll be used to power data centers, but can that world of greatly increased nuclear generation, even with improvements in light water reactors, must there be different kinds of reactors?I wouldn't say “must.” I think there will be. I think we will have that variability. I think we will still have large plants being built. I think maybe five years ago you wouldn't hear that people were talking about building gigawatt-sizes plants again. I think we'll have the gigawatt-size plants, we'll have the small modular reactors that are water-cooled, but I think we will get some of those advanced reactors out there: the Generation IV reactors, the sodium-cooled fast reactors that have the capacity to be able to burn waste better and also increase the sustainability of the amount of fuel they use. I think you'll also have the high-temperature gas reactors that are helium-cooled, that use TRISO fuel. You'll have those because we need to not only decarbonize the electricity sector, we've got to decarbonize the industrial sector. That's much more challenging, and the high temperatures that can be provided from those reactors will help us in that decarbonization process. So I think we will have a mixture out there. There are cases where the Gen IV systems are going to be better than the gigawatt-sized plants for the needs that are out there, but large power plants are going to be needed as well. Especially, like you say, you bring up the data centers, the amount of growth that we're hearing for electricity right now, I think again, we'll see gigawatt-sized plants will be needed to be able to meet that growth.Yeah, I tell you, nothing frustrates me more than reading about what AI could perhaps do for our economy and then having people say, “Well, but we know we can't do it because we can't supply the power” or “We can't supply enough clean power,” I mean, well then it'd be sure great to have more nuclear energy. And I wonder, as you sort of tick off some of the potential advances and new kinds of reactors, maybe I look backward too much, but I can't help but wonder what nuclear reactors would be like today, where we would be today, maybe we would already have fusion reactors had we proceeded with this kind of momentum every decade since 1980. It drives me crazy, and you're a nuclear engineer, that must drive you crazy.It does, I've been doing this . . . my first job in the nuclear industry was almost 40 years ago when I was still in college, and there have definitely been ups and downs in funding. In fact, there were some periods where there was almost zero research and development dollars spent in the government on nuclear energy. Luckily, though, the thing that we have is, under the four presidential administrations, there's been a real steady climb in the recognition of the importance of nuclear, and the funding to support it. So I'm happy that we have had this period that goes back to the early 2000s that's been really steady growth in recognition of nuclear. If we would've not had some of those laws in the late '80s and '90s, yeah, we could probably be further ahead, especially on some of the advanced technologies. Because yes, some of those advanced technologies started on research that was back in the '50s, '60s and '70s: the sodium-cooled fast reactor, the molten salt reactor, all of those were based on R&D that we did back in the early days, as well.Next-generation policy (17:38)Which leads me to this question: You work for the government. I work for a public policy think tank, so of course I'm going to think about: Given where we are today, what government needs to do going forward, both on the R&D front and on the regulatory front, are we doing enough basic research for whatever the next, or the next next generation of nuclear is, and do we now have the kind regulatory framework we need for that next generation of reactors?I'll go to the research one first—and I should note, my background is, I'm an R&D person, I came out of the national labs, so of course we always need more research and development. But that said, we have been blessed by funding from Congress and the administration that there's a significant amount of money for research and development in the United States. And I'll say that's good, because the one thing I will note, I do believe innovation in the US, as far as the nuclear technology, we are the best. The technologies that we're developing and our vendors are deploying it, really, it is the cutting edge technology, so it's good we have that R&D, and it's important, as you know, we need to continue to have it to move forward on that next generation of technologies and continue to make improvements on the technologies out there. So I think we have a good research base.There's some infrastructure that we still need if we start deploying, say, when we mentioned that sodium-cooled fast reactor, we don't have a testing capability for that type of system. We shut down our last testing system on a fast reactor in 1994. We would probably need some additional infrastructure. But again, we have a pretty good base. And I'll say that also on the regulatory side. We do have a pretty good base as well. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is obviously focused on light water reactors throughout its history, but they've actually been doing a good job at being able to work with some of the developers. We have three entities out there that are working on Generation IV reactors. TerraPower did submit their construction authorization to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and they've accepted it, so they're working well with them, even though they have a water-based system. Hopefully X-energy, who's doing a high-temperature gas reactor, working with the government and all, as well, will be moving forward, as well. And we've had a third that's working in the molten salt space, a molten salt-cooled reactor that has already received a construction permit to go forward on a prototype reactor, a Kairos company.I'm sure there's got to be reforms still on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and make sure that we are timely and responding to license applications, but they are moving in the right direction. There's been a lot of interface with various laws, whether it's the NEICA (Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act), or NEIMA (Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act), two bills that were passed a little while back looking at reforming. And I think there still needs to be improvements and still need to be increase in the resource and capacity of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but they're heading in the right direction.We have a good regulator, and that's one of the things that helps us make sure we feel that we can deploy this technology safely here, but also helps us in exporting our technology, where we can say, “Our technology has been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” which has such a high view externally in other countries, that helps us. So I want them to continue to be that safe regulator, but again, they are continuing to work to improve and streamline the process. Hopefully we get toward where we're standardizing, that we don't have to have a lot of interface and we don't — that'll come to the utilities, too — we don't make changes once we've got something approved, so we hopefully can speed up the process from the utility side, and all is well.Human capital (21:48)Are we going to turn out enough nuclear engineers? I imagine that, for a while, that probably seemed like a hard sell to someone who had an interest in science and engineering, to be in this industry versus some others. Probably a little easier sell; are we going to have enough people going into that to build all these reactors?We are going to need to continue to increase it. We're already seeing the uptick, though, in that area. I'll note: Our office, the office of Nuclear Energy, we've really — going back to the 2010 timeframe — really recognized that we needed to do more in that area, so we actually started investing almost 20 percent of our R&D budget to the universities to hopefully foster that next generation. And in fact, this year we just hit the mark where we've now spent $1 billion since the start of those programs on the universities to make sure we're doing R&D there and getting that next generation of folks out there. It's something that we've got to continue to focus on to make sure that we do. Because yeah, if we triple, it's going to need a lot more nuclear engineers. But I also note, the thing I'm concerned about also is making sure we have the right trades and all, as well. If we're building these plants, making sure you have the welders, the pipe fitters, and all, that's going to be a big challenge, as well, especially if we're going to start building, say, 10 plants a year. That's a lot of people out there.Fusion forecast (23:12)I'm excited about the prospects for nuclear fusion, and I've talked to people at startups, and it has probably looked as promising as it ever has. How promising is it? How should I think about it as being part of our energy solution going forward, given where we're at? In fact, there are no commercial nuclear fusion reactors right now. Obviously people at startups give a lot of optimistic forecasts. How should I even think about that as being a partial solution in the coming decades? How do you look at it, at least?I think it can be part of the solution in the coming decades. I think some of the changes that's taken place, especially over the last two years where there is more of a change to focus on, not fusion as a science program, but fusion as deployment, as an energy producer, you look at it as an applied energy. I think that's an important change that's occurred over the last two years, and the fusion programs within the Department of Energy are much more focused to that. It's similar to what's happened somewhat with fission. Fission, about 15 years ago, it was government-driven, and you pull along industry, until about 15 years ago you started having industry investing a lot of money and pulling along the government. You're now starting to see that happen in fusion, where people are doing a lot of a private investment, they're pulling along the government, and the government's working to see, how can we use the resources of the government to enable it? So I think it will happen. I don't think fusion is going to be producing electricity to the grid this decade, but I think the vision that's been put forth by the government is their bold, decade-old vision to have a fusion pilot facility sometime within the decade. I think that is feasible. So maybe before the 2050s you can start having fusion generating some of our electricity. I'm a fission person at my heart, but I think fusion is, we're getting much more focused on moving it forward as an electricity source, and that'll help it be able to be deployed sometime here in our lifetime.Faster, Please! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Micro ReadsHow Elon Musk and SpaceX Plan to Colonize Mars - NYTWhat happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution? - Economist The EV trade war between China and the West heats up - Economist Defeated by A.I., a Legend in the Board Game Go Warns: Get Ready for What's Next - NYTPfizer pins hopes on daily pill to crack market for weight-loss drugs - FTRise of the Restaurant Robots: Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Others Bet on Automation - WSJSaudi Arabia's Trillion-Dollar Makeover Faces Funding Cutbacks - BbergAI Spending: Goldman Strategists Say Big Tech's Splurge Worries Investors - BbergIt's Time for AI to Start Making Money for Businesses. Can It? - WSJFaster, Please! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. 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Zero Trust has revolutionized the way agencies everywhere are securing their networks, and this week on Feds at the Edge, we talk with titans in the field, including John Kindervag, Chief Evangelist with Illumio, who in 2010 coined the phrase “zero trust model.”  We delve into this stricter cybersecurity program where identity leads in the guideposts in defending today's cyber landscape.  Dr. Robert Roser, CISO with the Idaho National Laboratory agrees, “Without identity, nothing else matters.”     We also discuss the larger-than-life landscape that agencies are tasked with protecting. Sean Connelly, Federal Zero Trust Architect with CISA reminds listeners, while most know the big three cloud providers, there are over 300. Limiting our understanding to “the main and the plain” could lead to trouble. La Monte R. Yarborough, Acting DCIO, CISO and Executive Director, Office of Information Security, HHS, shares HHS is tasked with protecting 1200+ networks every day.        

In today's episode, we explore the widespread deployment of the open-source Android malware 'Rafel RAT,' its exploitation by threat actors like APT-C-35 (DoNot Team), and its impact on outdated devices, particularly Android versions 11 and older. We also explore the influence network CopyCop, potentially aligned with the Russian government, which has pivoted its focus to the 2024 US elections using AI-generated content and fake journalist personas. Lastly, we cover the Energy Department's cybersecurity guidelines for suppliers and end users to combat rising threats in the manufacturing sector, and the growing trend of fake data breaches, exemplified by the Europcar incident, where hackers manipulated generative AI to create counterfeit customer data. Video Episode: https://youtu.be/kU4OOHtB7cM Learn more: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/rafel-rat-targets-outdated-android-phones-in-ransomware-attacks/ https://www.recordedfuture.com/copycop-expands-to-cover-us-elections-target-political-leaders https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/energy-department-cybersecurity-manufacturing-supply-chain-best-practices/719612/ https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/06/24/faking-data-breaches/ 00:00 Intro 01:11 Rafel RAT Exploits Outdated Android Devices 04:02 Why Are Hackers Faking Data Breaches? 08:07 CopyCop Targets 2024 US Elections with AI Thanks to Jered Jones for providing the music for this episode. https://www.jeredjones.com/ Logo Design by https://www.zackgraber.com/ Tags: Rafel RAT, Android, Malware, Ransomware, Cybersecurity, Open-source, Telegram, Cybercriminals, Attack, Outdated devices, Governments, High-profile organizations, CopyCop, Russian influence network, AI, Political content, Fake journalist personas, US elections, Manipulation, U.S. Critical Manufacturing, Cyberattack, Cybersecurity guidelines, Energy Department, Idaho National Laboratory, Europcar, Data breach, Generative AI, Hoax, Cybercriminals Search Phrases: How to protect Android from Rafel RAT malware Ransomware attacks using Rafel RAT Russian influence network targeting 2024 elections AI-generated political content on new websites Cybersecurity guidelines for U.S. manufacturing Europcar data breach hoax Detecting fake data breaches with AI Cyberattack frequency in critical manufacturing Steps to counter Russian influence networks New cybersecurity measures by Energy Department

Dr. John Wagner is the President of Battelle Energy Alliance and Director of the Idaho National Laboratory or INL. INL is one of 17 national labs in the United States and leads the nation in work on advanced nuclear research. INL boasts a rich legacy in the narrative of nuclear energy, marked by its pivotal role in producing the inaugural usable electricity from nuclear sources on its premises. Dozens of reactors have been built at INL during its decades of operation. Dr. Wagner has been with INL since 2016 and has been director of the lab since 2020. Prior to that, he was the division director at the Reactor and Nuclear Services division at Oak Ridge National Lab. He has a PhD in nuclear engineering from Penn State University and has spent his career working to advance nuclear energy innovation. In our conversation, we cover the history of INL, its key priorities, current projects under development, and Dr. Wagner's vision for our nuclear future.In this episode, we cover: [2:00] DOE National Labs Overview[5:24] Introduction to Idaho National Laboratory[12:14] Current projects & reactors at INL, including Advanced Test Reactor (ATR)[14:10] INL's upcoming projects: MARVEL, PELE[15:39] How INL supports private firms in nuclear tech development[18:40] End-to-end reactor devolment cycle, e.g., MARVEL[26:57] How entrepreneurs can collaborate with INL[31:17] Collaboration with NRC, support for regulatory development and training[33:07] INL's involvement in fusion research[34:19] John's focus on nuclear fission, U.S. rebuilding[36:05] Future reactor mix: large-scale, modular, advancedResources Mentioned:Admiral Rickover's 'Paper Reactor' memoThe Most Important Nuclear Reactor (You've Never Heard of)Episode recorded on May 17, 2024 (Published on June 10, 2024) Get connected with MCJ: Jason Jacobs X / LinkedInCody Simms X / LinkedInMCJ Podcast / Collective / YouTube*If you liked this episode, please consider giving us a review! You can also reach us via email at content@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Candace Wood, COO of Everpoint Services, along with Michael McCarty and Megan Culler from Idaho National Lab, discuss their collaboration at Little Pringle Wind Farm to conduct cybersecurity research and testing. The episode delves into the critical importance of addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in wind energy infrastructure to ensure grid resiliency and energy security. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, along with my co host, Joel Saxum. This podcast has an interesting story behind it. Our first guest today is Candace Wood, Chief Operating Officer at Everpoint Services, which is based in Texas. Candace purchased the Little Pringle Wind Farm at an auction. Little Pringle Wind Farm is outside of Texas. Amarillo, Texas, and buying a wind farm at auction doesn't happen very often. And this is where the story takes an interesting turn. Candace and Everpoint made a decision about how to use this wind farm. Everpoint connected with the Idaho National Laboratory, cybersecurity experts, to use a portion of the turbines for cybersecurity. Research and testing. So from the Idaho National Lab is Michael McCarty, who is a cybersecurity research specialist and Megan Culler, who is a power engineer specializing in cybersecurity and resiliency, also from the Idaho National Laboratory. Megan, Michael, and Candice, welcome to the show. Candace Wood: Thank you. Thanks for having us. Michael McCarty: Thank you. Allen Hall: Alright, so let's start off with a little prequel and figure out how Candace ended up buying a wind farm. So you were at an auction Candace? Can you describe what happened where you decided to put down some money on a wind farm? Candace Wood: Everpoint Services, we are a end of life services company for renewables. So we primarily focus on decommissioning and demolition of wind turbines as well as solar assets. And we'd heard about this wind farm that had been abandoned since about So I was at the auction in August of 2017. Small farm, 10 units originally 2 megawatts each and heard that it was going up for auction. The county had seized the asset to try and recover some back taxes. I tuned into the option really with the intention of finding out who was going to purchase it and then pitching our services to them. Hey, we can come in and help you cut these things down. So I'm listening to the auction and the price point is going once going twice and I'm thinking gosh, that's Really not a lot of money. I mean we're talking, five figures and I thought well, let me just throw out a bid there and see what happens so I threw out a bid that was just slightly above what was about to be the winning bid and on behold I One, I bought the wind farm, so it was somewhat impulsive decision, which was both terrifying and exciting. In the immediate aftermath, what was interesting was once we looked into it a little bit more, we discovered that the interconnection agreement at the site was still in good standing. And once I actually finally got out there to look at it, because I did purchase the site unseen, I Never actually looked at it before. Once we got out there and looked at it, I thought, these turbines, they're not in such terrible condition, all things considered. And so we started looking into, okay what could we do? Maybe did we want to repower it?

The worlds of nuclear energy and reality TV collide in this episode with Survivor alum and nuclear engineer, J'Tia Hart! As Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation at Idaho National Laboratory, J'Tia is paving the way for the future of nuclear energy all while championing diversity and representation in STEM. She shares her unique journey with Mary and Jordan as they chat about energy security and the exciting future of the nuclear industry!J'Tia Hart: Website | YouTube | LinkedInVisit us at www.nei.org/fissionary.Music used in this episode was created by Beat Mekanik

Listen to our Morning Headlines today to learn more about some construction going on in Idaho Falls and what to look out for, a couple of new bills being passed concerning artificial intelligence, and the three new members of the Idaho National Laboratory.

Brian is a fascinating individual and such a fun conversationalist. He owns Acton Academy Rexburg, a learner driven elementary school that uses Socratic discussions and self paced challenges to become lifelong learners. Brian also runs a YouTube channel called Converting EV and teaches the ins and outs of converting traditional vehicles to modern battery power. Brian has an incredible past as a Research and Development intern for Varga Products, an Electronics Engineer for the United States Air Force and a Systems Engineer for Idaho National Laboratory.

Aaron McAdow, Head of US Marketing DevelopmentRetired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Aaron McAdow, who has more than 20 years of experience in US Special Operations and other Joint Strategic DoD programs. Aaron currently serves as Codeac Solution's Head of US Market Development and advises on technology integration to meet operational requirementsBen Hall, CEO and PresidentA former Australian Army Officer, Ben is the CEO and President of Codeac Solutions. Ben previously held executive roles at publicly listed companies and senior advisory roles in strategy consulting, he has experience across defense, politics and public sector industries globally.Catherine Riddle PhD, InventorThe co-inventor of Codeac Solutions, Cathy is a senior research scientist at Idaho National Laboratory and has 24 years' experience in radiochemistry research for nuclear energy and national securityEPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show

1) Piyush's upbringing in New Delhi, his background in robotics, and how it all lead him to the nuclear industry 2) Some of the interesting projects of Piyush's career and his admirable passion for working with and mentoring students 3) Current events in the nuclear industry, some news from Idaho National Laboratory, and a quick dive into energy storage 4) Piyush's experience of being named Asian American Engineer of the Year for 2022, as well as a few points about nuclear medicine and our nuclear energy future

1) Yasir's background, his first internship in the industry, and how Fukushima shaped the start of his nuclear energy career 2) A deep dive into the microreactor work that eventually lead Yasir to Idaho National Laboratory 3) A discussion of the MARVEL project and what it stands for - both the acronym and the mission for the project itself 4) Yasir explores the mindsets of collaboration and competition in the nuclear industry

Roya Gordon, a Security Research Evangelist at ICS cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks, started her career as an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy. After her time serving, Roya spent time as a Control Systems Cybersecurity Analyst at the Idaho National Laboratory and then took the role of Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at Accenture. She shares her story after the NSA accepted her and then quickly diverted, creating a new path for Roya to follow. She shares the jobs she went after along the way, leading up to Nozomi Networks and how she wishes to be a trailblazer for young black women everywhere. She hopes to shape young women's minds on what the cybersecurity industry is actually like, in hopes that she can be a figure people look up to.