The Atomic Exchange Podcast

In the 25th‑episode milestone of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous set aside reactor talk to focus on something different: each other. Michael kicks things off fresh from a week in Cancun, weighing beachside bliss against the itch to keep emailing drafts, while Goran unpacks why an off‑season, high‑fixed‑cost resort can feel five‑star on a three‑star budget. From there the episode gets a bit personal, with Goran and Michael trading two‑truths‑and‑a‑lie, sharing music tastes, pet peeves, and the meanings behind their names. They recount how a stab‑wound hospital visit and a university Christian club shaped their parents’ love stories, revisit the best and worst advice they’ve ever heard, and reminisce on some of their best decisions and their biggest regrets. Tune in for a candid, funny, slightly nostalgic detour before the next reactor deep dive.

In the 24th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous open with a summer catch-up: Goran’s solo Tesla trek from Dundas to Ottawa, complete with full-self-driving lane changes and meditative highway moments, and Michael’s impending family hop to Cancún. A light detour into European favourites follows, where Vienna’s café culture, London’s imperial streetscapes, and France’s sun-drenched south square off against under-whelming Greek ruins and the question of whether ancient monuments should be fully rebuilt or left as evocative rubble. The episode then pivots to another segment of Good Science vs. Bad Science target, a Frontiers in Environmental Economics paper that labels nuclear “an impediment to climate mitigation.” Point by point, the hosts dismantle claims that reactors are uninsurable, uneconomic and fundamentally incompatible with renewables, citing real-world capacity factors, lifetime-extension data and grid-price comparisons between France and Germany. Along the way they spotlight how cherry-picked construction timelines, hand-waved system-costs and “so-called” digs at small modular reactors slip past peer review, and why bad scholarship can still sway policymakers and AI training data alike. A brisk reminder that evidence, not ideology, should guide the energy transition and that sometimes the worst papers make the best teaching moments.

In the 23rd installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous begin by wading into the unexpected torrent of criticism on their recent Conversation article, examining everything from disclosure-doubts to misread safety statistics, and reflecting on when and how to engage with online pushback. They then turn to Ontario’s summer heat wave, where demand has surged to within two gigawatts of the province’s all-time peak, wind is running below 20 percent of capacity and solar covers barely one percent, forcing gas plants into four-times-their-forecast output. What would it really take to replace those peakers with storage or faster nuclear builds? Finally, they probe a SemiAnalysis warning that AI training data centres are drawing full-reactor-scale power and flipping from full load to near zero in milliseconds, threatening grid synchronization unless hardware and software fixes arrive. Tune in for a candid conversation on criticism, capacity and the next frontier of power-grid risk.

In the 22nd installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous open with a surprising PSA: radon gas is the deadliest radiation risk most people face, linked to roughly 21 000 lung-cancer deaths a year in North America, yet few homeowners even test for it. From cheap basement monitors to Canada’s uranium-rich soils, they lay out what listeners can do today. The conversation then shifts underground (literally) to deep-geological repositories. Finland’s Onkalo vault may soon become the world’s first “forever” dump, but Goran argues its tidy economics hinge on having just two nearby plants, nothing like the sprawl of ninety U.S. reactors. Michael counters that America’s stalled Yucca Mountain project shows one national site is politically impossible, while hauling fuel across state lines or Indigenous lands would likely push costs from today’s US $0.1–2 per MWh (on-site dry casks) to four-plus cents. Together they ask: if decades of safe, cheap on-site storage already exist, are DGRs solving a real safety gap or simply buying expensive peace of mind? Tune in for a brisk, number-driven debate that challenges nuclear orthodoxy and reminds us sometimes the safest place for waste is right where it sits.

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.

In the 20th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous mark their double‑digit milestone by tackling Europe’s sudden rethink on atomic energy. From Italy’s plan to end its 40‑year ban, to Germany’s flirtation with SMRs after a decade of phase‑outs, to Spain’s soul‑searching after the Iberian blackout, they ask what’s really driving the policy U‑turn: AI‑supercharged demand, the shock of Russian gas, or a belated recognition of grid physics? Along the way they spar over free‑market theory versus regulatory reality, debate whether large PWRs or factory‑built 300‑MW modules make more sense for Europe’s patchwork grids, and game‑out the labour, fuel‑cycle and supply‑chain bottlenecks that could stall a renaissance. There’s even room for golf handicaps, sleep‑apnea LSAT prep, and a lively dog‑versus‑cat detour. Tune in for a wide‑ranging, policy‑packed conversation on how (and whether) nuclear can truly anchor Europe’s next‑generation power mix—and why the clock is already ticking.

In the 19th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous dissect President Trump’s four May 23rd executive orders—the most sweeping U.S. nuclear directives since Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace.” They break down the headline mandates: an 18‑month cap on every NRC license, Department of Defense and Energy fast‑tracking micro‑reactors for AI data centers and bases, a whole‑of‑government push to mine, convert, enrich and even recycle domestic fuel, and DOE loans to restart shut‑down plants while breaking ground on ten new gigawatt‑scale reactors by 2030. Along the way they ask whether the NRC can really shrink multi‑year reviews to a year‑and‑a‑half without eroding its “gold‑standard” independence, debate the safety optics of letting the Pentagon self‑license reactors, and run the numbers on fuel‑cycle bottlenecks—HALEU, workforce, and state mining bans. Goran argues the orders finally level the regulatory playing field; Michael probes the risks of weaker transparency and public trust. They zoom out to the geopolitical stakes, weighing how Washington’s 400‑GW-by‑2050 ambition squares with China’s 150‑reactor sprint and what it means for AI‑driven electricity demand that’s already doubling data‑center loads every few years. Tune in for a spirited, data‑rich tour of America’s nascent nuclear renaissance—where policy meets engineering, markets meet megawatts, and the clock on U.S. energy dominance has officially started ticking.

In the 18th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous dissect China's headline plan to roll out 150 new reactors—at roughly US $2.5–3 billion per gigawatt—before 2035. They probe how dirt‑cheap state loans, a 700 000‑person nuclear workforce, and factory‑style repetition let China pour concrete in five‑year cycles, and why the same formula could prove harder for India the U.S. to replicate. Along the way they tackle looming uranium bottlenecks, Generation IV fast‑breeder ambitions, and the jaw‑dropping electricity appetite of AI data centers that’s pushing policymakers back to baseload realities. Tune in for a fast‑moving discussion that blends engineering detail with geopolitical stakes, asking whether the West can—or even should—match China’s nuclear sprint.

In the 17th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous unpack a 2017 Nature Energy study by Edson Severnini that tracks what happened when two TVA nuclear reactors went offline in the 1980s. They walk through how each megawatt‑hour lost to nuclear was replaced one‑for‑one by coal, sending particulate pollution soaring by roughly 10 µg/m³—enough to erase two years of Clean Air Act gains—and why the most exposed counties saw newborns lose an average of ~137 g at birth. Along the way they debate the wisdom of ultra‑strict NRC oversight, the hard choices regulators face when trading catastrophic‑risk mitigation against everyday public‑health outcomes, and why natural gas or renewables didn’t bridge the gap back then. Tune in for a deep dive on air‑quality trade‑offs, regulatory incentives, and what this forgotten corner of energy history tells us about our present challenges.

In the 16th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co‑hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous unpack two seismic energy stories that reveal critical blind spots in today’s transition debates. First, they dissect Apple’s high‑profile “Apple Intelligence” Siri demo—how a colorful animation hid genuine AI features that insiders say never worked, sparking leadership shakeups, lawsuits for false advertising, and a belated pivot to open‑source large‑language models. Then, they turn to Europe, analyzing Spain’s nationwide blackout on April 28th—a historic grid failure driven by the sudden collapse of solar generation and inadequate inertial backup. What does this wake‑up call say about grids overloaded with intermittent renewables? Tune in for a deep dive into the risks of over‑promising on AI, the vital role of rotational inertia on power systems, and why neither tech hype nor renewables maximization can replace a balanced, resilient energy strategy.