Nuclear Barbarians

Brian Gitt was once a true Amory Lovins all-renewables believer. But then, as he spent time in the industry, things stopped adding up. We talk about his journey towards the radiant light of nuclear and what renewables advocates leave out when they make their case.

Follow Brian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianGitt

Check out his website: https://briangitt.com/

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Mark Hinaman, who grew up in an oil and gas family and found great success in fracking, is now turning towards nuclear for a vision of the future. In this first episode in a two-parter, Mark and I dove into his background, what nuclear can learn from O&G, realistic energy transitions, and so much more. I absolutely loved talking to him and am looking forward to part 2.

Check out Mark's work: https://fire2fission.com/2022/03/19/fire2fission-a-fund/ Reach him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhinaman

Jenifer Avellaneda is one of my favorite new Twitter follows. She's a young Nuclear Risk Analyst for Westinghouse whose been passionate about nuclear since she was a kid and who does a great job of communicating nuclear safety to the public. We had a fun chat about her background and our mutual love of nuclear.

Follow Jenifer: https://twitter.com/NuclearHazelnut

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Wiliam Davison of Crisis Group joined me to talk about GERD. It's a hugely informative episode about the hurdles developing countries face in scaling up the energy ladder. 

Read more about it here:

Shock death intensifies dam debate: was Abiy pessimistic or realistic about GERD? https://medium.com/@wdavison10/shock-death-intensifies-dam-debate-was-abiy-pessimistic-or-realistic-about-gerd-d306a98686fe

Nile Dam Talks: Unlocking a Dangerous Stalemate https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/nile-dam-talks-unlocking-dangerous-stalemate

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Madi Hilly of the Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal joined me to talk about her organization's latest report on repowering retiring coal plants with nuclear reactors. We talk about giving energy communities a chance to choose their future, preserving American industrial ability, obstacles to repowering, and much more.

Read the report: https://gndcampaign.org/repowering-coal

Follow Madi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadiHilly

Subscribe to Grid Brief: https://www.gridbrief.com/subscribe

Return guest Robert Bryce joined me to talk about the NRC’s decision to rescind its license extension to Turkey Point in Florida. The conversation then turns to the dismal state of current energy policy, Biden’s State of the Union, the problem with how most people (especially those in the media) think about energy, what we can do about it, and some of my weird theories about how the internet has deeply changed our polity

Read Robert’s piece on the Turkey Point situation: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertbryce/2022/02/28/nrc-rescinds-license-extensions-creates-more-uncertainty-for-investment-in-nuclear-sector/?sh=2ff439262e55

Follow Robert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pwrhungry

Buy his book: https://www.amazon.com/Question-Power-Electricity-Wealth-Nations/dp/1610397495/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QA7TJC0QTXBM&keywords=robert+bryce&qid=1646363158&sprefix=robert+bryce%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1

Watch his movie: https://www.amazon.com/Juice-How-Electricity-Explains-World/dp/B088N9SBC8/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2Y5ZRK58Y7TMG&keywords=the+juice%2C+documentary&qid=1646363193&sprefix=the+juice%2C+documentary%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-4

Princy Mthombeni from Africa4Nuclear sat down with me to talk about how she ended up becoming such an amazing advocate for nuclear, the obstacles to building nuclear in Africa, overcoming energy poverty, and more!

Check out her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZmA_Zryw077ModGyDEKpw Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Princymthombeni

DJ LeClear, The Rad Guy, sits down to talk to me about working in radiation safety, how he became a nuclear advocate, how he changed his mind on climate, what it means to be an advocate, and more!

Follow The Rad Guy:www.youtube.com/channel/UCNRNPA4-VzJiNVOHEmLSEAgwww.instagram.com/theradguyglows/?hl=enwww.tiktok.com/@theradguyglows?lang=entwitter.com/ThatRadGuy5www.patreon.com/join/TheRadGuy?rads-glowing-apparel.creator-spring.com/

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Italian nuclear advocate Luca Romano joins me to talk about the history of Italian nuclear, how he's amassed such an impressive pro-nuclear following, the great news of the EU's new green taxonomy, and more!

Support Luca's work!

Patreon: https://patreon.com/nicodaemon

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Isaac Orr of the Center of the American Experiment returns to talk about his latest article on MISO's potential for cold weather blackouts this winter. We dive into what's happening with solar in Minnesota, grid unreliability, coal, how wind turbines can be net consumers of energy in cold weather, phony environmental justice language, and more.

Check out Isaac's article here.