Stay ConnectedEmmet Penney talks to experts, workers, journalists, and scholars from all over the world about nuclear energy, energy issues, culture, and society. Subscribe to the Substack to get the newsletter and the podcast sent directly to your inbox: www.nuclearbarbarians.com.
This podcast is supported by the Foundation for American Innovation.
Copyright: © Emmet Penney
On today’s episode we take a brief break from all things nuclear to discuss the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Arnab Datta, Managing Director of Policy Implementation at Employ America, joined me to break down the basics of the SPR and outline what can be done to make it more robust.
This one’s for the real energy heads and anyone who cares about American resilience.
In the final installment of my follow up series with nuclear companies, I spoke with Jonathan Webb, the co-founder and CEO of The Nuclear Company.
For those who don’t know, TNC is pursuing a fleet-scale build of big reactors (and perhaps small ones too!) with cutting edge tech to turn blue collar workers into the Iron Men of megaprojects. Jonathan broke down his vision for nuclear, why workers are the key to everything, what’s going on with TNC’s VC Summer build, and so much more. His big-hearted passion for nuclear really struck a chord with me.
Check out last year’s episode with TNC’s Chief Nuclear Officer, Joe Klecha, here.
And, if you’re in DC, check out TNC’s operating system demo at Deep Tech Week on September 8th!
Late in the night on July 4th, Aalo Atomics took their test reactor critical. In this episode, Aalo’s co-founder and CEO, Matt Loszak, returned to speak with me about the company’s experience in the DOE’s reactor pilot program. The conversation took a fascinating look at moving fast and building things—from sourcing materials to cultivating mindset.
We recorded this a few weeks ago in anticipation of Aalo’s success. Needless to say I was not surprised when the team got it over the line. Huge congratulations to them and everyone else in the pilot program.
You can read more about their criticality here.
This is the first in a series of check-ins with previous guests about the unfolding nuclear renaissance. In this episode, Tyler Bernstein, CEO and co-founder of Zeno Power, returns to talk with me about Zeno’s progress (check out our first episode here). We chop it up about the importance of Trump’s EOs, NASA’s commitment to a permanent lunar base, and—wait! I’m burying the lede.
Zeno has just acquired Vallecitos Nuclear Center in California, the first commercially owned nuclear plant. Though the plant itself is decommissioned, Zeno will be using its hot cells to industrialize the production of their nuclear batteries. My conversation with Tyler made the nuclear renaissance feel all the more real.
The thumbnail for this episode is a photo of one of the hot cells; to see more (as we discuss in the episode), you can check out this video.
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a fusion skeptic. But! There are exciting things happening in the fusion industry these days. So, I brought Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, to talk to me about why things are looking up for fission's avant-garde cousin. Andrew's candor, insight, and enthusiasm made him a great guest. I had questions about everything from break-even hurdles to robotics and he handled it all with aplomb. I came away from this episode convinced that regardless of how near or far away commercial fusion may be, America should invest in R&D to try and crack it: the tech is too cool and the lessons we'll learn along the way too valuable.
In today’s episode, I got to talk about something near and dear to my heart (nuclear waste reprocessing) with Carl Perez of Exodys Energy, a nuclear waste reprocessing company. Carl is a wealth of knowledge, as you’ll hear in the episode. We discuss the basics of waste reprocessing, the history of the industry, what makes Exodys stand out, and why getting waste reprocessing right will change the world.
Today I’m joined by Julie Kozeracki, the Chief Investment Officer of the Energy Dominance Financing Office, which serves as the Department of Energy’s bank. We talk about her admiration for Admiral Hyman Rickover, the nature of the EDF, financing large light water reactors and small modular reactors, why the EDF’s operations are vital to a nuclear renaissance in America, and more!
I felt really lucky to speak with Julie. I’m a huge fan of hers and a major supporter of the EDF’s work.
For this episode, my guest is Jeff Waksman, whose official title is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. That’s a long title. In brief, he’s trying to get microreactors built for the US Army via the Janus Program. We discussed the nature of the program, unforeseen challenges in hard tech, why the Army is pursuing microreactors, and more!
You can learn more about Janus here.
And you can follow Jeff Waksman on X—which I heartily recommend.
One of the best parts of running this podcast is the chance to learn about aspects of the nuclear industry I know little about. Today’s guest, the President and CEO of United Clean Up Oak Ridge, taught me all about remediating nuclear sites. UCOR, the DOE’s contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation, boasts an impressive suite of expertise and logistical acumen dedicated to turning over former Manhattan Project sites for civilian and government use. Ken broke down the steps of remediation and the heavy machinery needed (including robots!) to deliver on these projects. I really appreciated the beauty of his vision: remediating Manhattan project sites to spur the nuclear renaissance.
This episode brought out the little kid in me. A huge thank you to Ken for making the time for our discussion.
You can learn more about UCOR here.
Reed Clay, President of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, joined me today to talk about how Texas is gearing up for the nuclear renaissance. We discussed how he came to support nuclear by learning about waste, what has set Texas’s nuclear strategy apart from other states, how TNA’s annual summit is shaping the national nuclear landscape, and Reed’s advice for other states that want to become nuclear hubs.
Reed is a humble, hard-working guy and it was a pleasure to speak with him.
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