For episode 31 of Gener8, we encourage you to utilize our visual stream as we're excited to share a documentary film that hasn't been seen in decades but is now available to us all thanks to the efforts of this episode's guest, Dr. Nick Touran. Nick is the founder and main force behind the WhatIsNuclear.com website, the Manager of Digital Engineering at Terrapower, and a man on a mission to save and revive some of the history around many of the amazing activities that took at the beginning of the nuclear age. Veriten was honored to sponsor the digitization of one of these films and Nick discussed with us how he got caught up in such an activity, why he founded his website, and what he does at at Terrapower before we dove into the film for the first time together. The film tells a bit of the story around the Armour research reactor, America's first privately-owned nuclear reactor which went online in 1956 on the campus of an Illinois university for research purposes. Nick also shared some lessons we could take from the film that are applicable to today's nuclear deployment paradigm and also shared his ambitious around further digitization efforts he plans to undertake.  

For a link directly to the film Veriten sponsored the digitization of, please click here.

Episode 30 of Gener8 dives into the role of AI in nuclear technology activities with a discussion featuring Trey Lauderdale, Founder and CEO of Atomic Canyon. Atomic Canyon is using AI to reduce documentation burdens at currently operating as well as future nuclear plants and is engaged in a first-of-a-kind demonstration project at Diablo Canyon Nuclear power station. Trey discussed a little of the philosophy of where he sees the role of the AI technology in high documentation and highly regulated industries and described how his experiences founding and running a company focused on process improvement in the healthcare field has taught him lessons for the nuclear and power space. Trey also shared some thoughts about the future and where nuclear AI discussions could go more broadly as well as for future nuclear technologies.

Episode 29 of Gener8 discusses an innovative project in Texas related to the deployment of a molten salt research reactor at the Abilene Christian University (ACU) on the heels of the recent issuance of a construction permit for the project. Dr. Rusty Towell, Director of NEXT lab and Professor of Engineering and Physics at ACU, Doug Robison, Founder and President of Natura Resources, and Andrew Harmon, VP of Operations and Business Development at Natura Resources joined us to explore the project and what it means for the future of Texas as well as advanced nuclear technology. Our conversation began with what drives the need for more research reactors and research activities for molten salt reactors (MSRs) as well as the broader nuclear industry. Rusty, Doug, and Andrew discussed a bit of the history of the ACU project, the consortium participating, some of the innovations included in this project, as well as what brought each of them to the project. The conversation then turned to the commercial opportunities for MSRs beyond the ACU project, what Natura hopes to achieve in this area, and how remaining challenges for commercial deployment could be overcome or could impact future activities. Deploying the first new research reactor at a United States university in decades is a very welcome development and the implications for the future of the nuclear industry in this country can only improve with deployments like this.

Stephen Ezell, Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Director of the Center for Life Sciences Innovation at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) joined us to share insights from a recent ITIF paper on the implications of growing Chinese leadership in nuclear energy technology for the global community (paper linked here). Stephen shared some of the history on how China has steadily committed to nuclear energy and how the priorities for that nation drive aggressive development plans for the future that are unrivaled by other nations. Our conversation further touched on the role of China in the global supply chain, how the United States might close a bit of the gap between the two nations on nuclear energy development and deployment, as well as ITIF's motivations and aims in looking at this topic. The role of China in the global nuclear development picture will certainly continue to be discussed for years to come and we hope that this conversation, as well as ITIF's report, will help inform understanding around the challenges and opportunities here.

In Episode 27 of Gener8, Ken Luongo, President of the Partnership for Global Security, joined us for a conversation on the role of Uranium in global energy and nuclear security. On the heels of commitments of over $3B by the federal government to support the domestic Uranium supply chain, Ken shared his perspective on how Russian aggression in Ukraine combined with the already oversized role of Russia in the global Uranium supply chain caused many to pause and rethink. With recent funding and action by the federal government being the biggest resulting domestic response, we dove into where some of this money might be applied and whether it will be enough. China also entered our discussion on the role of nuclear energy in the global energy security picture before we turned to a recently published study on the proliferation risks of some potential advanced reactor uranium supply chains. The commodity picture around Uranium will remain a part of many nuclear discussions for years to come and understanding how security concerns can align with energy, reliability, and financing concerns will remain an important part of any such discussions.