In the 21st installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous debrief day one of MIT & CATF’s “Nuclear Energy: Key Facts & Figures” summit. They break down why levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) misses the true system price tag, compare the wildly different financing models behind Olkiluoto-3, Hinkley Point C, Barakah, and Turkey’s Akkuyu plant, and marvel at uranium’s 50-million-to-1 energy-density edge over coal. The conversation then turns to small-modular reactors: how venture capital might finally enter the game, whether water-cooled LEU designs will crowd out exotic sodium- or lead-cooled concepts, and why a handful of winners could dominate an “SMR buffet” of 900 possible variants. Along the way they swap first impressions of D.C. and wrestle with industry pessimism on whether this moment really is the last nuclear renaissance. Tune in for a conference-floor download packed with numbers, nuance, and a dash of travelogue.