10. Entreprenuclear View of Energy

Here at Entreprenuclear, the viewpoint is that Energy usage is a good thing that should not be villainized.

Energy can be defined in very simple terms as "the ability to do work" or according to wikipedia as "the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems".


Things don't get done if energy is not used.

No Energy = No Work (nor Jobs (and I don't mean Steve))

Reduction in the amount of energy used within an economy equals a reduction in the amount of useful things that can be done within that economy, which will equal an overall reduction of wealth within that economy.  It really is that simple.




While I am a fan of School House Rock and of not being wasteful in using energy, Atomic Energy (if allowed to flourish) can paint a much rosier picture than the video above.

The "favored" source of primary energy here at Entreprenuclear is, of course, Peaceful Atomic/Nuclear Energy.  This favored status is due to the lack of supply issues for nuclear fuel combined with a realization/knowledge that present limitations that have historically hindered Nuclear Energy from flourishing to its full potential are simply man-made, rather than true physical constraints.

Here is a recent posting at Nuclear Green about the lack of any supply issue for nuclear fuels, along with an additional illustration relating to how plentiful nuclear fuels can be from Kirk Sorensen here (which he admits in the comments does not give credit for further gains that would be available for Uranium if utilized within a fast neutron spectrum reactor).

Rod Adams posted a great blog this morning, mentioning that Nuclear Energy can allow mankind to enjoy the benefits of a high energy lifestyle (which include reduced human slavery, enhanced overall liberty/prosperity, and greater gender equality), while exerting a limited impact on the naturally-occurring global systems of the Earth.

All that is needed is for more people to keep understanding the benefits of nuclear energy and for those of us who already understand those benefits to do what we are able to be adding value in entrepreneurial ways in whatever aspects of Peaceful Atomic Energy that we can think of.

6. Entreprenuclear-Related News

Westinghouse is now making some significant progress in placing themselves firmly into the middle of the SMR competition. (Here's their page.)

Dan Yurman has posted about this over at the ANS Nuclear Cafe.

Will Davis posted about it over at Atomic Power News.

That makes 3 separate sites that should have now been identified for initial implementations of various SMR designs: Clinch River in East Tennessee for B&W's mPower, Callaway in Missouri for the Westinghouse SMR, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina as a possible SMR Park housing each of the Gen4 Module, the NuScale SMR, and the Holtec SMR.

Additionally, these design efforts have some backing from major players in the EPC world.  The Holtec SMR effort is being assisted by Shaw.  B&W's mPower is receiving design help from Bechtel.  NuScale is partially owned by Fluor.

Let this serve as proof.  Nuclear Entrepreneurs do exist.

Also, private investments in Peaceful Nuclear Energy do exist. 

5. Why Nuclear?

What an excellent question: "Why Nuclear?"
The answer for me really boils down to 2 primary points, each of which with numerous sub-points.

1. Existing, operational nuclear power plants are amazing.

- Nuclear energy has immense energy density. Only a handful of truckloads of fuel needs to be delivered every 18-24 months to provide electrical power for upwards of half a million people per operating unit.

- Nuclear energy's total costs have already all been internalized, with no emissions of CO2, NOx, SO2, Mercury, or particulates. "Spent" fuel storage has been shown to be safe. Ultimate "spent" fuel storage costs have been funded via the nuclear waste fund ($0.001/kW-hr generated). Decommissioning funds are in place for when plants cease to operate far off in the future.

- Nuclear power has a stellar safety record.

2. Currently operating commercial nuclear power plants merely scratch the surface of what is physically possible.

- Nuclear power plants will be able to provide energy in more sectors of the energy market than merely base load electricity in the future, while still continuously operating at full capacity other than either forced or re-fueling outages.

- Future nuclear power plants will utilize a greater portion of their potential fuel, possibly approaching 100% utilization rather than less than 5% presently.

- Greater fuel utilization ensures less waste to be dispositioned. If utilization gets to near 100%, the time scale that that the waste is required to be isolated will be immensely decreased.

- Advancements in nuclear energy could potentially allow a solution that would render a geologic repository (such as Yucca Mountain) a non-necessity, even for the already-generated "spent" (partially-used) commercial nuclear fuel.

- Nuclear energy's capital costs are not inherently as expensive as they have been portrayed to be. In numerous cases, they have been increased due to flat out obstructionism.

- Modularization and the NRC's new method of licensing present a promising means of avoiding the historical cost increases that many people (wrongly) think are inherent to nuclear power plants.

- Nuclear energy represents technological progress.

- Nuclear energy enables the possibility of a much less oppressive future overall.

- Nuclear energy can allow future necessary energy transitions to be more gradual, rather than being abrupt and likely destructive resulting from resource scarcity.

- Peaceful nuclear energy is legitimately scalable to power the whole world, for a long, long time and help make the world a more peaceful place......as long as it is actually allowed to make progress.

Viva Nuclear Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs!!!

1. Entreprenuclear? What’s that?

Entrepreneur + Nuclear

=

Entreprenuclear 

“What does that mean?”, you might ask. If you have a few minutes to read, I would be happy to tell you.

Entreprenuclear is more than simply a convenient amalgamation of two words that both possess a “new”sound. Entreprenuclear is starting off as simply a pro-nuclear,and hopefully insightful and informative, blog. I intend to use Entreprenuclear's corner of the Internet to educate and encourage people in regards to the peaceful use of Atomic (aka Nuclear) Energy,championing value-creating Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Nuclear energy, even it its present state, is downright incredible. To think that several truckloads of fuel delivered to a single unit can provide the electrical power needs for hundreds of thousands of (nearly a million) people for 18-24 straight months at a time is amazing if you actually think about it. Oh, and thinking will be encouraged here at Entreprenuclear.

As incredible as the existing,operating, commercial nuclear power plants are, Peaceful Atomic Energy has not yet come close to reaching its full potential. Present commercial nuclear power plants use LESS THAN 5%of their potential fissile energy (sparing any details of this calculation, for now). Even considering this lack of maturity, fully fabricated nuclear fuel costs approximately one third on a per unit of energy basis ($0.65-0.92/MBtu) of even natural gas which is presently at a 10-12 year low price in North America(dipping below $2.00/MBtu,at the Henry Hub) .

Looking at only those facts, nuclear energy would seem to be ripe for value creating innovation and entrepreneurship,right?

Well many people would likely say no and that nuclear power plants are inherently expensive or that regulations prevent much of any innovation or opportunities for entrepreneurship.

While I would likely agree with those people that building nuclear power plants is far from an easy task and that it does NOT provide short term pay-backs, the long-term benefits of being patient and properly completing a high quality nuclear power plant (NPP) are almost amazing in terms of energy supply security and electricity rate stability. The alleged inherently expensive nature of NPPs and the present structure of nuclear regulation actually probably present the two areas of greatest entrepreneurial need in regards to the use of Peaceful Atomic Energy.

Further education will be necessary on many fronts for a large portion of the advances that Peaceful Atomic Energy is poised to make. I may simply be a nerd (mechanical engineer by schooling), but I think that in some ways, “nuclear people” historically have done themselves a disservice by being far too willing to allow non-”nuclear people” to believe that understanding nuclear fission is beyond their intellectual capabilities. I say that on a basic level, that is patently FALSE. Yes, there are many details that I am also clueless about and that are best learned by earning a difficult BS, MS, or PhD degree, but EVERYONE should strive to have some understanding of the basics of nuclear power production. I plan to make efforts to provide some simplistic explanations here at Entreprenuclear.

Entreprenuclear is here to encourage both present and FUTURE “nuclear people”. Entreprenuclear will try to highlight upcoming advances in nuclear power technologies (attempting to stay relatively agnostic in regards to any particular technology, since advancement is advancement), highlight entrepreneurial news regarding new nuclear ventures, and also promote INTRApreneurship within existing established nuclear energy organizations.  Submissions of examples of EntrepreNuclear or IntrapreNuclear activities will be welcomed here at Entreprenuclear and in some cases could result in a blog entry highlighting the activity (with permission, of course).

The future is what nuclear energy is really about, a future that I am hopeful isn't laced with mandated decreases of utilizing energy, whether mandated by governments or nature via depleted fossil fuel resources.  Decreasing usage of energy would equal decreased economic activity and decreased standards of living, for the whole world, in addition to likely fights for scarce remaining fossil fuel resources. I am hopeful that peaceful atomic energy will be allowed to advance and flourish in the future world that will be inhabited by any children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that I may someday bring into the world. I previously shared some of these Atomic Dreams this past Martin Luther King Day on Atomic Insights.

Peaceful Atomic Energy is basically still in its first product cycle past prototyping. There are miles of improvements that can be made for the future (not to say that the nuclear plants that are already operating aren't quite incredible), both in regards to new designs and in how currently operating plants are managed, supported, and operated.

The second posting here will list some of the on-going entrepreneurial activities and opportunities within the realm of Peaceful Atomic Energy. 

Note:

Constructive, non-spam comments and questions will always be welcome here at Entreprenuclear. I am more than willing to admit that I myself still have much to learn.