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by Emmet Penney
Emmet Penney talks to experts, workers, journalists, and scholars from all over the world about nuclear energy, energy issues, culture, and society. Subscribe to the Substack to get the newsletter and the podcast sent directly to your inbox: www.nuclearbarbarians.com.This podcast is supported by the Foundation for American Innovation.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 4 days ago46 min
Private Poles and Wires ft. Anton Troynikov (American Terawatt)
Last episode, I spoke with Travis Fisher about Consumer Regulated Electricity—power, poles, and wires off grid and off ratepayer bills. Some of you might have wondered, “That’s a cool policy idea, but is anyone physically working on that?”The answer to that is “yes.”Meet Anton Troynikov, an electrical engineer and founder of American Terawatt. His company aims to build off grid, undergrounded High Voltage Direct Current power lines for industrial loads. In this episode, Anton and I discuss everything about the politics, economics, and physics of American Terawatt’s mission.You can find Anton on LinkedIn.Check out American Terawatt here.
- 1 weeks ago49 min
The Need for Speed ft. Travis Fisher (Cato)
America needs power on the grid and needs it now. Aside from component queues and permitting challenges, another obstacle stands before consumers for whom speed-to-power is the greatest priority: interconnection to the grid.An old friend, Travis Fisher, joined me to discuss Consumer Regulated Electricity, his solution for getting private power, poles, and wires on the grid without waiting in line and burdening rate-payers.This episode, the first in a trilogy on transmission issues, touches on the regulatory burdens private power faces and what to do about them.You can read more of Travis’s writing about CRE here and here.And you can find him on X.
- Sep 15, 202638 min
SPR: Trade It to Save It ft. Arnab Datta (Employ America)
On today’s episode we take a brief break from all things nuclear to discuss the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Arnab Datta, Managing Director of Policy Implementation at Employ America, joined me to break down the basics of the SPR and outline what can be done to make it more robust.This one’s for the real energy heads and anyone who cares about American resilience.“Trade the SPR, Save the SPR” by Arnab Datta.You can find Arnab on X.
- Aug 19, 202641 min
The Future Belongs to Builders ft. Jonathan Webb (The Nuclear Company)
In the final installment of my follow up series with nuclear companies, I spoke with Jonathan Webb, the co-founder and CEO of The Nuclear Company. For those who don’t know, TNC is pursuing a fleet-scale build of big reactors (and perhaps small ones too!) with cutting edge tech to turn blue collar workers into the Iron Men of megaprojects. Jonathan broke down his vision for nuclear, why workers are the key to everything, what’s going on with TNC’s VC Summer build, and so much more. His big-hearted passion for nuclear really struck a chord with me. Check out last year’s episode with TNC’s Chief Nuclear Officer, Joe Klecha, here. And, if you’re in DC, check out TNC’s operating system demo at Deep Tech Week on September 8th! Visit TNC’s website to learn more.
- Jul 7, 202644 min
The Critical Moment ft. Matt Loszak (Aalo Atomics)
Late in the night on July 4th, Aalo Atomics took their test reactor critical. In this episode, Aalo’s co-founder and CEO, Matt Loszak, returned to speak with me about the company’s experience in the DOE’s reactor pilot program. The conversation took a fascinating look at moving fast and building things—from sourcing materials to cultivating mindset. We recorded this a few weeks ago in anticipation of Aalo’s success. Needless to say I was not surprised when the team got it over the line. Huge congratulations to them and everyone else in the pilot program. You can read more about their criticality here.
- Jun 19, 202644 min
Powering the Moonbase ft. Tyler Bernstein (Zeno Power)
This is the first in a series of check-ins with previous guests about the unfolding nuclear renaissance. In this episode, Tyler Bernstein, CEO and co-founder of Zeno Power, returns to talk with me about Zeno’s progress (check out our first episode here). We chop it up about the importance of Trump’s EOs, NASA’s commitment to a permanent lunar base, and—wait! I’m burying the lede. Zeno has just acquired Vallecitos Nuclear Center in California, the first commercially owned nuclear plant. Though the plant itself is decommissioned, Zeno will be using its hot cells to industrialize the production of their nuclear batteries. My conversation with Tyler made the nuclear renaissance feel all the more real. The thumbnail for this episode is a photo of one of the hot cells; to see more (as we discuss in the episode), you can check out this video.
- May 20, 202648 min
Can I Be Fusionpilled? ft. Andrew Holland (Fusion Industry Association)
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a fusion skeptic. But! There are exciting things happening in the fusion industry these days. So, I brought Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, to talk to me about why things are looking up for fission's avant-garde cousin. Andrew's candor, insight, and enthusiasm made him a great guest. I had questions about everything from break-even hurdles to robotics and he handled it all with aplomb. I came away from this episode convinced that regardless of how near or far away commercial fusion may be, America should invest in R&D to try and crack it: the tech is too cool and the lessons we'll learn along the way too valuable.
- Mar 3, 202658 min
Waste Not, Want Not ft. Carl Perez (Exodys)
In today’s episode, I got to talk about something near and dear to my heart (nuclear waste reprocessing) with Carl Perez of Exodys Energy, a nuclear waste reprocessing company. Carl is a wealth of knowledge, as you’ll hear in the episode. We discuss the basics of waste reprocessing, the history of the industry, what makes Exodys stand out, and why getting waste reprocessing right will change the world. Check out Exodys here.
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About Nuclear Barbarians
Emmet Penney talks to experts, workers, journalists, and scholars from all over the world about nuclear energy, energy issues, culture, and society. Subscribe to the Substack to get the newsletter and the podcast sent directly to your inbox: www.nuclearbarbarians.com.This podcast is supported by the Foundation for American Innovation.
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