Titans Of Nuclear | Interviewing World Experts on Nuclear Energy show

Titans Of Nuclear | Interviewing World Experts on Nuclear Energy

Summary: A podcast featuring interviews with experts throughout the Nuclear Energy field, covering advanced technology, economics, policy, industry, and more.

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Podcasts:

 Ep. 17 - Rita Baranwal, GAIN | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 40:39

- Rita's start in Materials Engineering at MIT, her transition into the space research world - Her work at Westinghouse in their fuel fabrication facility - Scouting "Game Changing" technologies across robotics, advanced reactors, advanced chemical engineering, advanced manufacturing, digital instrumentation and control - GAIN initiatives: Vouchers, Workshops, Facilitating industry work with the labs - A quick discussion of the NRC modernizing their licensing framework

 Ep. 16 - Don Wolf, ARC Nuclear | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 45:22

- The ARC origen story through resurrection of a decades old nuclear prototype EBR-2 - A technical discussion on "closing the fuel cycle", "breeding", "electrochemical refining" - A discussion of sodium and "pool type" vs "loop type" design - A discussion of metallic uranium fuel vs uranium oxide - A quick comparison of the four metal fuel designs ARC, PRISM, OKLO, and TERRAPOWER - Advantages of the Canadian Licensing Regime: 2 stages & risk-based approach

 Ep. 15 - Rich Powell, Clearpath | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 34:53

- The origin story of Clearpath and politics role in the climate divide  - The "more innovation and less regulation" approach to federal policy - Production Tax credits and how they fit into energy markets - "Leveling the playing field" for zero emissions standards - Refocusing the Department of Energy's R&D efforts with moonshot initiatives - Changing the paradigm of how we build new nuclear - China and the risks of us ceding world nuclear leadership to them

 Ep. 14 - Mark Peters, Idaho National Labs | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:22

Episode Content: - Mark's background in geology and how that ties in to spent fuel disposal - His lab career starting at Los Alamos, then Argonne, then INL - INL's history and role in developing nuclear technology - New technologies that help bring advanced reactors to fruition - INL's work as the "underwriter's lab" of storage technology - Smartgrid, cybersecurity, and design with resiliency in mind - Mark's insight looking towards the future of technology 

 Ep. 13 - John Kotek, Nuclear Energy Institute | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 45:55

Episode Content: - John's career at the Department of Energy, the National Labs, as an ANS congressional fellow, and in the private sector - Why deployment time is key to cost reduction - NEI's national nuclear energy strategy: Preserve, Sustain, Innovate, and Thrive - "negative pricing" and the unintended consequences of tax credits - Pros and Cons of various mechanisms the government can use to support the industry - How SMRs alleviate some of the market problems nuclear faces today

 Ep. 12 - Jeff Harper, X-Energy | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 49:23

Episode Content: - Jeff's earlier career as an NRC vendor inspector  - The relationship between NRC and Industry including the balance of health and safety against cost and schedule  - His work with Westinghouse bidding on an South African nuclear build - The role of Silicon Carbide in in TRISO Fuel  - The X-energy team composition and its founder Kam Ghaffarian  - Further details of X-energy's deployment strategy

 Ep. 11 - Jessica Lovering, Breakthrough Institute | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 34:20

- Jessica's start in Astrophysics, transition to Energy - Topic areas the Breakthrough Institute focuses on - The biggest challenge of Nuclear being cost and how to approach building differently - A review of modular construction techniques and readiness levels - The market for exporting nuclear technologies and various factors that make it attractive - The importance of fuel reliability, export control, and security considerations - Floating Reactors, Micro Reactors, Autonomous Reactors

 Ep. 10 - Emma Redfoot, Fellow / Grad Student, INL (5/5) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 36:57

- How Emma’s personal experiences abroad developed her interest in energy issues - How she got involved in Mothers for Nuclear and focus of Students for Nuclear - We do a deep dive into Cyclus and Emma’s efforts to evolve this model to incorporate a hybrid energy ecosystem as well - The role hybrid energy systems play in transforming the world - She also shares with us an amazing perspective on what happens holistically when we make energy cheaper

 Ep. 09 - George Griffith, Small Modular Reactor Coord, INL (4/5) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 35:16

Episode Content: - Fuel fabrication - What it’s like to live in the community around and to work at a Nuclear Power plant - What happens when you reload fuel in a reactor - Light Water Reactor sustainability program and how they design ways to extend the life of the existing fleet - The Advanced Test Reactor, the largest test reactor in the US - The role that Small Modular Reactors play in the future of the nuclear power industry - Nuscale’s efforts in commercializing SMR technology

 Ep. 08 - Shannon Bragg-Sitton, Hybrid Energy Labs, INL (3/5) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 30:28

Episode Content: - Her entrance to the Nuclear field at an incredibly young age - An overview of space nuclear reactors - Applying nuclear energy as an Industrial heat source, utilizing the steam for district heating, chemical process, water desalination, and how all this fits into broader energy ecosystem - The many uses of hydrogen and how it can be integrated in a nuclear system - Laboratory scale model validation of the worlds future integrated energy systems

 Ep. 07 - Hans Gougar, Advanced reactor projects, INL (2/5) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 32:40

- How Hans became interested in nuclear energy - An overview of the of pebble bed technology physics and materials - How high temperature can be safer than low temperature - The need to build expertise, infrastructure, modeling and new regulations just to lay the foundation for commercializing new technologies - Why even a 50MW pilot project is a large endeavor - The role INL plays as an independent auditor and fuel qualifier - We wrap up with where Hans sees the future of Nuclear technology

 Ep. 06 - John Wagner, Asct Lab Dir, Nuclear Sci & Tech, INL | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 45:54

- John’s entrance into the field and early experience at Oak Ridge National Labs - The basics of spent fuel management and a briefer on the status of Yucca Mountain. - Five different divisions that fall under the Nuclear Science Directorate including: “Domestic Programs”, “Nuclear Fuels and Materials” “Fuel Cycle Technologies” “Nuclear Systems and Analysis” and “Regulatory Safety” divisions - The three buckets of Advanced Reactor Design and INL’s history in facilitating R&D

 Ep. 05 - Rachel Slaybaugh, UC Berkeley | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 31:07

- Rachel’s introduction to nuclear science and technical expertise - The genesis of the world’s first nuclear startup accelerator - The need to use computation thoughtfully to replace or supplement experiments - Her recent appointment as an Arpa-E program director and it’s focus on supporting enabling technologies such as robotics, sophisticated sensing, model-based fault detection, and secure networks

 Ep. 04 - Eric Loewen, GE Prism | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 33:18

- His personal path through various nuclear institutions, work on climate change with congress, and current efforts - GE’s role in America’s nuclear history - A deep dive into the PRISM project and technology behind fast reactors - Tthe hormetic effect of radiation and the effects of low dose - Where Eric sees the future of nuclear

 Ep. 03 - Todd Allen, University of Wisconsin | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 49:49

- The function of our national lab system in prototyping reactors and creation of user facilities to revitalize innovation on this front - Walking through various permutations of fuels, coolants, and approaches towards proving new technologies -Turning points in the history of commercial nuclear development, - His contribution towards shaping policy at Thirdway, and launching their first advanced nuclear summit. - Concrete steps how the can DOE restructure their efforts to best encourage innovation

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