Nuclear Barbarians

Episode 21: The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ft. Wiliam Davison

March 31st, 2022  |  49 mins 30 secs

Wiliam Davison of Crisis Group joined me to talk about GERD. It's a hugely informative episode about the hurdles developing countries face in scaling up the energy ladder. 

Episode 20: Fossil to Fission ft. Madi Hilly

March 10th, 2022  |  26 mins 27 secs

Madi Hilly of the Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal joined me to talk about her organization's latest report on repowering retiring coal plants with nuclear reactors. We talk about giving energy communities a chance to choose their future, preserving American industrial ability, obstacles to repowering, and much more.

Episode 19: Who's at the Wheel? ft. Robert Bryce

March 3rd, 2022  |  39 mins 3 secs

Return guest Robert Bryce joined me to talk about the NRC’s decision to rescind its license extension to Turkey Point in Florida. The conversation then turns to the dismal state of current energy policy, Biden’s State of the Union, the problem with how most people (especially those in the media) think about energy, what we can do about it, and some of my weird theories about how the internet has deeply changed our polity

Episode 18: Africa4Nuclear ft. Princy Mthombeni

February 17th, 2022  |  23 mins 47 secs

Princy Mthombeni from Africa4Nuclear sat down with me to talk about how she ended up becoming such an amazing advocate for nuclear, the obstacles to building nuclear in Africa, overcoming energy poverty, and more!

Episode 17: Nuclear Radvocacy ft. DJ LeClear aka The Rad Guy

February 10th, 2022  |  38 mins 27 secs

DJ LeClear, The Rad Guy, sits down to talk to me about working in radiation safety, how he became a nuclear advocate, how he changed his mind on climate, what it means to be an advocate, and more!

Episode 16: Nuclear's New Italian Attorney ft. Luca Romano

February 3rd, 2022  |  35 mins 33 secs

Italian nuclear advocate Luca Romano joins me to talk about the history of Italian nuclear, how he's amassed such an impressive pro-nuclear following, the great news of the EU's new green taxonomy, and more!

Episode 15: Below Zero Blackouts? ft. Isaac Orr

January 26th, 2022  |  43 mins 58 secs

Isaac Orr returns to talk about his latest article on MISO's potential for cold weather blackouts this winter. We dive into what's happening with solar in Minnesota, grid unreliability, coal, how wind turbines can be net consumers of energy in cold weather, phony environmental justice language, and more.

Episode 14: Save Pickering! ft. Edgardo Sepulveda

January 19th, 2022  |  56 mins 46 secs

Emmet chats with Edgardo Sepulveda to discuss some of the history of public power in Canada and the US in the context of trying to save the publicly-owned Pickering Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) from being shut down in 2025 in his home province of Ontario, Canada. This episode is a type of follow-up to Emmet and Edgardo’s first episode “A Brief History of the American Electricity Grid From the 1920s to Closure of Indian Point” in June 2021 (https://exhaust.fireside.fm/41).

Episode 13: Advancing Nuclear ft. Rod Adams

January 12th, 2022  |  59 mins 49 secs

The legendary Rod Adams (@atomicrod) of Atomic Insights and Nucleation Capital joined me to talk about his time as a Navy nuke, changes in nuclear, what advanced nuclear is all about, and more!

Episode 12: Preserving Nuclear History ft. Nick Touran

January 6th, 2022  |  37 mins 14 secs

america, climate change, energy, energy crisis, fdr, history, nuclear, tva

Nick Touran, creator of whatisnuclear.com, joins me to talk about stewarding our nuclear past and learning from our engineering forefathers. Nick’s a great guy and I’ve learned a lot from his work. We had a fun time chatting and I encourage everyone to consult his website for valuable information about the development of nuclear energy in America.

Episode 11: The Nuclear Titan Himself ft. Bret Kugelmass

December 29th, 2021  |  42 mins 31 secs

Host of the famous Titans of Nuclear podcast and Managing Director of the Energy Impact Center, Bret Kugelmass joined me to talk about his background, the corruption of the American utility industry, nuclear deadlocks, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, regulation, and more!

Episode 10: Yung Nuclear ft. Aidan Swanson

December 22nd, 2021  |  35 mins 34 secs

andrew yang, aoc, climate change, electricity, greta, grid, keystone xl, markets, natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy, renewables, yang gang

Pronuclear zoomer Aidan Swanson came on the pod to talk to me about how he got into nuclear, his research on RTOs and natural gas, the posi/doomer divide amongst his generation, and more!

Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemdeeCapital

Subscribe to my Substack: https://nuclearbarians.substack.com/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nukebarbarian

Episode 9: Energy Crisis Update ft. Mark Nelson

December 15th, 2021  |  42 mins 37 secs

africa, climate, climate change, climate crisis, coal, cop26, germany, ghana, imperialism, nuclear, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind

King of the energy analysts Mark Nelson swings by to talk about COP 26, his visit to Ghana, the energy crisis and how it's changing minds about nuclear.

Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/energybants

Follow me on Substack: https://nuclearbarians.substack.com/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nukebarbarian

Episode 8: Defending Diablo Canyon ft. Heather Hoff

December 8th, 2021  |  37 mins

california, climate change, climate crisis, diablo canyon, green new deal, nuclear, nuclear energy, renewable energy, renewables

I got to speak with Heather Hoff, an employee at Diablo Canyon and founder of Mothers for Nuclear. This one was a big deal for me—I really admire Heather and all the work that she does. We talked about how Heather came to work at Diablo, how she overcame her fears of nuclear and became one of its fiercest advocates. We also talked about the amazing march to save Diablo that took place over the weekend.

Episode 7: RTO No ft. Meredith Angwin

December 2nd, 2021  |  54 mins 42 secs

electricity, energy, energy crisis, energy politics, grid, natural gas, nuclear, renewables, rto, texas blackouts

Author of Shorting the Grid and Campaigning for Clean Air, Meredith Angwin joins me to talk about electricity wholesale markets, grid resiliency, the beauty of energy, and more!

Episode 6: Ireland Energy Report

November 18th, 2021  |  41 mins 24 secs

data centers, energy crisis, fianna fiall, fine gael, ireland, nuclear energy, sinn fein, tech, workers party of ireland

Gavin Mendel-Gleason of the Workers’ Party of Ireland joined me to talk about the absolute state of the Irish grid, how they’re facing the energy crisis, the Irish public’s feelings about nuclear, and what might be next for the country as its burgeoning data center economy makes it more and more power-hungry.

Check out his Why Nuclear Power is Necessary brief for the WPI.