Data centers and energy
⚛️ Nuclear Power
Understand how reactors work, what the fuel, waste, safety and cost records actually show, and where small modular reactors and federal rules stood in October 2026, so you can weigh nuclear projects with real numbers.
- 1How fission makes heatAtoms, uranium-235, the chain reaction, moderators and control rods, and why a power reactor cannot blow up like a bomb.14 min
- 2Reactor types side by sidePressurized water, boiling water, CANDU, gas-cooled, fast and molten salt reactors compared on fuel, coolant, moderator and track record.15 min
- 3The fuel cycle: from ore to fuel rodMining, milling, conversion, enrichment, LEU versus HALEU, fuel fabrication, where U.S. uranium comes from and the ban on Russian imports.15 min
- 4Small modular and advanced reactors, October 2026Where NuScale, TerraPower, X-energy, the BWRX-300, Oklo and Kairos stand in licensing and construction, and what the tech company power deals actually commit to.17 min
- 5Idaho's nuclear historyFrom EBR-I's four light bulbs in 1951 to the SL-1 accident, the Advanced Test Reactor, MARVEL and the 2026 test reactor race at Idaho National Laboratory.15 min
- 6Safety record, accidents and radiation dosesThree Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima with sourced death tolls, deaths per terawatt-hour across energy sources, and radiation doses in everyday terms.18 min
- 7Spent fuel and nuclear wasteWhat spent fuel is, how pools and dry casks work, the Yucca Mountain stalemate, Idaho's 1995 settlement agreement with DOE, and the arguments over reprocessing.17 min
- 8Costs and timelines: Vogtle and the SMR betHow Vogtle 3 and 4 went from $14 billion to about $35 billion, why nuclear projects overrun, and what SMR advocates and skeptics each argue.16 min
- 9Who regulates nuclear power and howThe NRC, its licensing paths, the ADVANCE Act of 2024, the May 2025 executive orders, and where to find the documents behind any reactor project.16 min