Mark Nelson is an outspoken nuclear advocate and the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund. Recently, Mark gave a speech in downtown Denver at an event sponsored by the Denver Petroleum Club, YPE, and the CU Denver Global Energy Management Program. Following the speech, our very own Mark Hinaman joined him on stage to moderate a Q&A session with questions from the audience.

Show notes:

02:13 Pros and cons of nuclear vs. oil & gas

09:36 Why are nuclear plants being shut down?

21:19 What does Mark see as the ideal energy mix?

33:52 How does the United States make next-generation nuclear a reality?

46:50 How does the nuclear industry fix its public image from previous accidents?

56:28 How Mark suggests that we transform current coal plants

Mark's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-w-nelson-484b0713/

Courtney Tampas is a senior reactor operator (SRO) at Surry Power Station, a nuclear power plant outside Newport News, VA. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, host Sean McGhee talks with Courtney about her work as a nuclear risk analyst, the grueling training campaign to transition to operations, and the most rewarding parts of being an SRO.

Show notes:

01:03 Courtney's background and how she got interested in nuclear power

03:46 What is probabilistic risk assessment (PRA); the process of constructing a PRA model

08:56 Reflecting on the VC Summer 2 & 3 effort, and eventual cancellation

12:46 Transitioning to a senior reactor operator (SRO) in training at Surry Power Station

21:09 A day in the life of a licensed SRO, and the biggest stresses that come with the job

26:55 The craziness surrounding planned plant outages

30:47 What excites and scares Courtney the most about the future of the nuclear industry?

33:52 Courtney's advice for other young professionals in energy

Courtney's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-tampas/

More about Surry: https://www.dominionenergy.com/projects-and-facilities/nuclear-facilities/surry-power-station

Mike Umbro is an oil & gas entrepreneur. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Mike talks with hosts Mark Hinaman and Carolyn Lucca about his extensive experience investing in the industry, the discourse and policies surrounding climate change, and how he would change his home state of California.

Show notes:

01:16 Mike's background and career path so far

06:54 How Mike has managed to work from California for so long

08:12 Talking finances & investments at Premier Resource Management

16:04 Has investor appetite waned in the energy sector, and will it change? Are emissions regulations stifling innovation?

21:32 Mike's most memorable encounter when he admitted to working in oil & gas

23:15 Reflecting on Duke's Environmental Management program; the echo chamber that is LinkedIn; trying to make sense of California's fossil fuels policies

32:46 Is the discourse about climate change more dangerous to society than climate change itself?

36:42 Is California's electric car push actually feasible? Mark believes synthetic fuels would be a more important endeavour

46:29 What would it take to have the people of California turn against their policies?

52:12 What advice does Mike have for young professionals?

55:12 How would Mike ideally transform California's energy industry overnight?

Mike's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeumbro/

If you listened to last week's episode, you already know Denys Elliot, Commercial Lead for the Advanced Reactor Directorate at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Denys talks with hosts Mark Hinaman and Sean McGhee about CNL's strategic research initiatives, the exciting work being done with small modular reactors (SMRs), and Denys's insights on the future of the industry.

Show notes:

01:29 Denys's background

07:11 The mission of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL)

09:04 How the nuclear industry is viewed in Canada; advantages of the CANDU reactor design; ongoing and future nuclear projects

14:04 CNL's three strategic research priorities; the importance of the actinium-225 isotope to cancer research

22:54 Supporting small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technologies; CNL's relationship with Canada's nuclear regulator; Chalk River's SMR demonstration project

35:16 Denys's work with the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NAYGN)

38:58 What excites & scares Denys most about the future of the energy industry

44:26 Denys's advice for young professionals in the energy industry

47:07 Where Denys sees the nuclear industry in the next decade

Denys's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denys-elliot-87984399/

Find an NAYGN chaper near you: https://naygn.org/chapters/

More about CNL's mission, the SMR siting project, and actinium-225:

https://www.cnl.ca/about-cnl/corporate-profile-mission-and-values/

https://www.cnl.ca/clean-energy/small-modular-reactors/siting-canadas-first-smr/

https://www.cnl.ca/health-science-2/actinium-225/

On this episode of the YPE Podcast, hosts Mark Hinaman and Sean McGhee speak to the winners of the Atomic Allies' inaugural North America Innovation for Nuclear (I4N) Contest. Denys Elliot, Zac Woods, Ryan MacLeod, and Heidi MacLeod are excited to discuss their concept of combining digital asset mining and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to power remote communities around the world and help meet the United Nations' sustainability goals.

Show notes:

01:22 Group introductions & backgrounds

03:32 Devising the topic to study the relationship between small modular reactors (SMRs) & Bitcoin

07:04 What exactly is Innovation for Nuclear (I4N)?

10:02 How could Bitcoin mining help meet sustainability goals?

16:48 How did the team find each other?

19:37 Economic and humanitarian benefits of the concept, and how it applies to power plants beyond SMRs

26:31 Where would the startup capital come from for these micro-reactor projects?

32:05 Potential project timelines and customers

36:12 A technical description of how Bitcoin blocks are actually mined

Some further reading, suggested by Ryan: https://medium.com/the-bitcoin-times/bitcoin-is-a-pioneer-species-38f42ecdbb88

Find an NAYGN chapter near you: https://naygn.org/chapters/

LinkedIn pages:

Denys https://www.linkedin.com/in/denys-elliot-87984399/

Heidi https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-macleod-b922a722a/

Ryan https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-macleod-600b90210/

Zac https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-woods-ab8113215/

Brook Papau is a co-founder and CEO of Orennia, where he works with investors and business leaders in the renewables space as they transform their strategies to leverage advanced analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Brook sits down with host Mark Hinaman to discuss his path to the renewables sector, his role in building a billion-dollar company, and his latest venture Orennia.

Show notes:

01:27 Brook's background & his indirect path to the energy industry

13:56 Brook's time with the Ross Smith Energy Group (RSEG), and navigating the oil & gas industry after the Great Recession

22:17 Rising through the ranks with technical and sales roles & developing a game-changing shale data analysis platform

33:03 Building a successful team & selling a billion-dollar company

38:08 Orennia's mission to build a data and analytics platform to guide investments in the energy transition

46:11 Ideal clients for Orennia, and how the company adds value to its customers

51:18 Biggest challenges facing Orennia and the industry

56:13 What industry concern keeps Brook up at night?

60:37 Brook's advice for young professionals in energy

Brook's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brook-papau-6a177a17/

Chris Pawlik is the founder & CEO of Energy-Producing Retail Realty, Inc. (EPR^2), which owns and operates solar and other energy-producing solutions on behalf of building owners and tenants across California. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Chris joins hosts Mark Hinaman and Saxon McKinven to discuss the importance of energy rights and what factors he evaluates when pursuing a new project.

Show notes:

00:57 Chris's background & growing up in eastern Europe

04:49 Getting into the energy industry & finding commercially viable energy-producing real estate projects

12:51 Reflecting on the 2021 D5 Momentum energy conference; current backlogs on capital expenditure projects to upgrade electric service

19:25 What factors Chris looks for when deciding to pursue a valuable project

24:49 Founding distributed energy solutions company EPR^2; explaining the importance of energy rights

33:02 Guaging the appetite for real estate owners to own energy assets; quantifying the opportunities for energy rights in the commercial real estate space

41:50 How legislative changes would affect the EPR^2 business model

44:21 What scares Chris in the energy sector; Chris's advice for young professionals in energy

Connect with Chris:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispawlik/

Dr. Scott Tinker is an internationally renowned energy expert and public speaker. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Scott joins host Mark Hinaman to discuss the Switch Energy Alliance, a nonprofit organization that strives to develop objective, film-based resources to be used in classrooms across the world to create an energy-educated future.

Show notes:

00:47 Scott's energy background & career

05:52 Filming the 2012 and 2020 "Switch" documentaries, and creating the nonprofit Switch Energy Alliance (note: ESG = Environmental, Social, & Governance, criteria by which a company's focus on sustainability can be judged)

12:19 The mission of Switch Energy Alliance, and why energy is necessary to lift people out of poverty

21:27 How Switch built its online platform and spreads its energy content across the world

27:48 The most commonly misunderstood energy messages to communicate to people, and the concept of "factually complete"

32:50 The most effective message techniques for energy education

36:05 Which energy topics frighten Scott?

41:39 Scott's advice for young professionals in the energy industry

46:02 What is Scott's optimal energy mix?

50:39 How can YPE members get involved with Switch?

Scott's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinkerenergyassociates/

Contribute to or join the Switch Energy Alliance: https://switchon.org/about/contribute/

Hillary Stevenson is an oil market enthusiast with over a decade of analysis experience in the industry. In this episode of the YPE Podcast, Hillary joins host Mark Hinaman to discuss Validere's role in valuing commodities at the molecular level, how reducing methane emissions has become a top goal, and her near-term outlook for the energy industry.

Show notes:

01:47 Hillary's background and career in energy

03:55 Validere's role as a commodity inventory data aggregator

10:10 Validere's operations and customer base

12:56 Observing growth and value in the ESG space

14:47 Explaining methane performance certificates (MPC)

18:23 Long-term societal and business benefits of reducing methane emissions

20:07 Near-term challenges and fears in the current energy climate

22:11 Hillary's advice for young professionals in energy

Hillary's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-stevenson-b3138b53/

GreenFlare is on a mission to partner with the oil and gas community to rescue stranded gas and help alleviate the waste of natural resources known as “flaring." On this episode of the YPE Podcast, GreenFlare CEO Ryan Fitzgerald and CTO Dan Jasek join hosts Mark and Carolyn to discuss the collision of energy & crypto!

Show notes:

01:12 Ryan and Dan's backgrounds

04:43 GreenFlare's origins and goals to alleviate the waste of "flaring"

10:20 Potential growth and opportunities in the industry, and projects that GreenFlare is currently targeting

14:23 Thoughts on the future prospects of mining crypto, and navigating regulatory risks in the space

24:12 Is crypto good for the energy industry & the economy?

31:12 Changing the narrative on ESG in the oil & gas industry

34:34 Ryan and Dan's advice for young professionals

GreenFlare website: https://www.greenflaretech.com/