In this episode we discuss...

• Milton's background in nuclear engineering and his personal journey in the industry
• Improving nuclear's ability to stay on time and on budget
• Milton's work understanding and minimizing operation risks
• The history of Canada's nuclear industry
• Milton's work as an independent consultant assisting with refurbishment projects in Canada including the Bruce Power refurbishment implementation agreement
• Challenges with refurbishment processes and how Milton helped to overcome them
• The World Nuclear University
• Milton's role in the Canadian small modular reactor sector
• Natural Resources Canada's initiative to create an SMR roadmap

In this episode we discuss...

• Anurag's background in mechanical engineering and his personal journey in the nuclear industry
• The many changing processes that go into building a nuclear plant
• The financial risk profile of a nuclear plant versus that of other energy sources
• The government's role in funding nuclear
• How nuclear plants benefit Canada and its employment rate
• KPMG's work improving nuclear's ability to stay on time and on budget and how that benefits public perception of the nuclear industry
• How small modular reactors can streamline production, decrease cost, and increase nuclear scalability

In this episode we discuss...

• Amy's background in journalism and her personal journey in the nuclear industry reporting on energy from the Wall Street Journal to Axios
• How energy plays a role in economics and politics including the natural gas boom during the Obama era
• The evolution of energy in the media and its impact on public perception
• The pendulum swing of US energy regulations
• Nuclear's environmental benefits and the ways in which it can aid our carbon solution and work against climate change
• Amy's view of trends in electricity grids, coal, oil and natural gas, and nuclear
• The importance of the US's leadership role in guiding the global nuclear sector

In this episode we discuss...

• Tina's background in chemical engineering and her personal evolution in the nuclear industry
• Tina's early work at Northeast Utilities helping to manage the start up of Millstone 3
• The chemical processes involved in a steam generator
• B&W Nuclear Technologies aka Framatome
• Different reactor types and their chemical components
• Comparing the overall environmental impact and health risk across different energy sources including nuclear
• Risk-based versus prescriptive approaches to licensing new designs in the US
• Key drivers of research in plant modernization including technology to automatically monitor chemistry
• Ways we can improve the economics of nuclear safety

In this episode we discuss...

• Al's background in material science and his personal journey in the nuclear industry from the NRC to EPRI
• Ways in which the NRC regulates civilian use of nuclear materials and its role at Yucca Mountain
• A deep dive into pitting and dry cask storage
• Various material degradation methods including crevice corrosion
• The safety and economic benefits of dry storage
• EPRI's research improving fuel rod coating to slow down oxidation and prolong fuel cycle within a pressurized water reactor
• Ways in which EPRI is working to accelerate the deployment of these concepts
• Test reactors and how they're working to expedite material qualifications

In this episode we discuss...

• Andrew's background in physics and optics and his personal journey in the nuclear industry
• An understanding of the metal wastes like uranium in weapons facilities and their effect on the environment
• How uranium becomes radon
• Chernobyl and how the facility was salvaged after the accident
• A deep dive into accident tolerant fuels
• The neutronics of silicon carbide versus zirconium
• Improving nuclear safety and cost efficiency
• Energy parks and their potential role in nuclear success
• EPRI's recent study on factors that control nuclear destiny including economics and policy

In this episode we discuss...

• Dave's background in welding and his personal journey in the nuclear industry
• The advantages of welding versus a flange
• The history of ultrasonic inspection welds
• Fatigue and creep in fossil plants
• How data collected from materials testing in fossil plants now contributes to the nuclear industry
• Temperatures required in coal plants versus those required in nuclear plants
• The use of 3D printing in additive manufacturing on an industrial scale
• Improving the time and cost of producing small modular reactors and Gen IV reactors
• Manufacturing's vital role in increasing nuclear's scalability

In this episode we discuss...

• Rob's background in history and his personal evolution in the nuclear industry
• Design flaws that led to the Three Mile Island accident
• Rob's work in plant modernization managing major electrical and digital upgrades at plants in the US
• Pros and cons of analog systems versus digital systems
• The core inputs essential to safety control in a plant including coolant flow and temperature parameters
• Economic challenges in nuclear and how we can replace manual labor with automation to help overcome those challenges
• Concerns over software common cause failure
• Lessons we can learn from upgrade deficiencies in other countries
• How cybersecurity is maintained in digital systems
• How plant modernization methods are working to dramatically reduce the operation and maintenance costs required in nuclear

In this episode we discuss...

• Dan's background in chemical engineering and his personal journey in the nuclear industry
• Dan's work studying lanthanides and actinides
• The different types of research and development an independent nonprofit organization like EPRI provides to utilities
• The contributing factors within primary and secondary coolants and how they alter the chemistry of oxides on materials
• Where plants get their water and the purification processes involved
• How water's chemistry changes over the lifetime of a reactor why that led to the introduction of alloy 690 in steam generators
• Boric acid's critical role in maintaining power level in a reactor
• Automation in the water chemistry analysis space
• Dan's current work providing the data necessary to qualify switching from lithium 7 to potassium hydroxide

In this episode we discuss...

• Neil's background in the British Navy and his personal journey in the nuclear industry
• Neil's work as a system engineer at Sizewell
• The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and its work to increase a power plant's capacity factor and uptime
• Understanding a plant's realtime risk profile
• EPRI's relationship with the nuclear industry and where it gets its funding
• EPRI's research surrounding operations and maintenance cost as well as capital cost
• EPRI's long term work supporting small modular reactors
• Gen IV reactors and what we need to do now to support their implementation in the coming decades