Jigar Shah: Breaking the Nuclear Stalemate
Today I am joined by Jigar Shah, the director of the US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office to discuss the future of nuclear, and nuclear finance in the USA.
Aug 18, 2023•56 min•Season 20Ep. 7
Decouple
There are technologies that decouple human well-being from its ecological impacts. There are politics that enable these technologies. Join me as I interview world experts to uncover hope in this time of planetary crisis.
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Episodes
An Oppenheimer on Oppenheimer
Charles Oppenheimer, a serial entrepreneur in the software business and the grandson of J Robert Oppenheimer joins me to discuss the Christopher Nolan film, his Grandfather’s legacy and the organization he recently co-founded, the Oppenheimer project.
Aug 11, 2023•59 min•Season 20Ep. 6
American Nuclear: The Next Chapter
Physicist James Krellenstein returns for a part two to talk about America’s nuclear future.
Aug 05, 2023•51 min•Season 20Ep. 5
American Nuclear: Failure to Learn, Destined to Repeat?
“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Physicist James Krellenstein joins me to deep dive the history of America’s great nuclear build out, its stalling and the age of the operator which saw capacity factors at US plants leap from 60% to 90%. How should this history inform future policy? What's the bull’s case for US nuclear going forward?
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 20Ep. 4
Gone With the Wind: Denmark’s Stalled Energy Transition
Denmark is known around the world as a wind turbine superpower. It has been an early mover with the largest per capita deployments and large interties to manage fluctuating output. Denmark has implemented the world's most ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. But underlying this target is burning large amounts of biomass imported from abroad mainly the Baltics. New analysis from the Danish energy department show that biomass use exceeds international sustainability goals s...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 20Ep. 3
Embrace the Waste
In this “Decouple Short” Madi Hilly shares the experience of her maternity photo shoot at Idaho National Laboratories and the responses so far.
Jul 10, 2023•14 min•Season 20Ep. 2
The Case for CANDU
Chris Adlam, a senior analyst and cofounder of Canadians for Nuclear Energy joins me for an in depth discussion on the Case for the CANDU reactor. Read the “Case for CANDU” report from Canadians for Nuclear Energy at www.c4ne.ca
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 20Ep. 1
Bridging the Metabolic Rift
Inspired by the recent Breakthrough Dialogues theme of the “Metabolic Rift,”Leigh Phillips joins me for a far ranging discussion about the challenges and consequences of humanity’s decoupling from natural ecological flows. We navigate perspectives from deep geologic time on mass extinction or so called “biological revolutions,” the likelihood of modern humanity’s disentanglement from fossil fuels and the optimal mix of markets and planning required to best navigate emerging ecological threats.
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 19Ep. 10
Stormy Waters Ahead for Offshore Wind
Decouple correspondent Angelica Oung joins me to discuss the challenges facing the offshore wind industry as commodity prices rise, turbines scale ever larger and countries struggle with supply chain localization.
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr•Season 19Ep. 9
Can the Left be Saved From Itself?
Ruy Texeira, an American political scientist and commentator, joins me to discuss the “5 deadly sins” of the modern left and its growing self imposed exile from the working class and production itself. These “sins” coupled with an increasing intolerance for open debate and a reflex towards de-platforming and cancel culture are crippling the Left’s ability to self analyze and correct course. What is to be done?
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 19Ep. 8
Peak Oil and the End of Globalization
Systems engineer, James Fleay, joins me to discuss the unique relationship between liquid hydrocarbons and our six continent supply chains. Oil is the enabler of low cost transportation of people and goods. What does an inevitable decline in oil production, whenever it comes, mean for globalization and our future economies. What forms of economical and industrial complexity should be prioritized? All this and more in this thought provoking episode.
Jun 06, 2023•54 min•Season 19Ep. 7
What About the Waste?
Madi Hilly, author of nuclear advocacy’s most viral tweet, joins me to discuss the ultimate bogeyman and best practices when it comes to talking about nuclear waste. https://twitter.com/madihilly/status/1550148385931513856?s=46&t=N4_61zANEvl1W3Q_ehy1nw
May 28, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 19Ep. 6
Non-Proliferation & the Antinuclear Mind
Jeremy Whitlock of the IAEA joins me to debrief “The Great Canadian Nuclear Debate” explore the “antinuclear mind” and brush us up on the challenges of non-proliferation and safeguards. Jeremy’s Website: https://www.nuclearfaq.ca/
May 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 19Ep. 6
The Uranium Masterclass
Mark Nelson returns for an “Insanium Uranium Explanium!”
May 16, 2023•1 hr•Season 19Ep. 5
What’s Nu-clear in Japan
Robert Bryce joins me to discuss his recent trip to Japan where climate concern is at the bottom of the list of grid planning priorities in favour of energy security imperatives. We discuss the Japanese U-turn on nuclear and the prospects of nuclear restarts and new build.
May 08, 2023•45 min•Season 19Ep. 4
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Emmet Penney returns to offer a review of the film “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” which is based on the work of radical Swedish geographer Andreas Malm. Read About the Movie here: https://compactmag.com/article/a-hollywood-ode-to-eco-terrorism
May 01, 2023•55 min•Season 19Ep. 3
The Great Canadian Nuclear Debate
Decouple host Dr. Keefer faces off against Canada’s most prolific antinuclear activist Dr. Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, in a cordial but passionate debate on the question “Do We Need to Scale Up Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change?” This public debate took place at the University of Ottawa on April 25th and was hosted by Canada’s former ambassador of Climate Change and former ambassador to Chile Patricia Fuller.
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 48 min•Season 19Ep. 2
A Eulogy for the German Atom
Decouple’s Germany correspondent Noah Rettberg returns for a sombre discussion about the conclusion of Germany’s “Atom Exit” and its consequences.
Apr 24, 2023•58 min•Season 19Ep. 1
Peak Shale: Not so fast!
Mark Hinaman, Director of Engineering and Innovation at Franklin Mountain Energy, joins me to give us a pad side view on Fracking and a response to claims of “Peak Shale” Mark is also the Principal and Founder of the nuclear energy think-tank, Fire2Fission and although he believes that there’s oil everywhere and natural gas is even more abundant, he explains why he thinks that nuclear is the ultimate energy source.
Apr 17, 2023•58 min•Season 18Ep. 10
Barakah - A Nuclear Success Story
In an era in which the nuclear industry has struggled to deliver new nuclear power plants on time and on budget, the example of Barakah, a four APR-1400 reactor nuclear station located in the United Arab Emirates is an important success story and case study. His Excellency Mohammed Al Hammadi, the CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, has been front and center throughout the planning, construction and operation of Barakah. In this podcast he shares the vital lessons, careful planning a...
Apr 10, 2023•57 min•Season 18Ep. 9
Limits to Growth for Precision Fermentation
With concerns mounting about the biodiversity crisis, precision fermentation and cultured meats offer an enticing solution. Proponents argue that culturing mammalian cells and fermenting macronutrients with gene edited yeast can decrease the land footprint of agriculture by 1000 times all while eliminating animal cruelty. Skeptics like Dr. Paul Wood question whether the Moore’s law style expectations of cost reductions apply to biological systems and the scalability of these technologies. Will p...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 18Ep. 8
Ontario’s Nuclear Advantage
Gary Rose, VP of New Nuclear Growth at Ontario Power Generation, builds our understand of the CANDU refurbishment program, whose successes have laid the foundation for deployment of the West’s 1st grid scale SMR, the GE Hitachi BWRX-300. Gary and I explore the thesis that Ontario is the best equipped jurisdiction in the west to deploy new nuclear, which now extends beyond SMRs to a serious consideration of “Large Modular Reactors.” Stay tuned for a masterclass on project management from a master...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 18Ep. 7
The State of the Atom
Mark Nelson delivers his annual “State of the Atom” address, taking a global look at the rapidly unfolding changes to the prospects of nuclear energy.
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 18Ep. 6
Peak Shale
Today we deep dive fracking and shale, the energy source that put Peak Oil concerns on the back burner for a decade and a half. According to recent analysis by Goehring and Rozencwajg Shale field production is showing signs of sliding down the backside of Hubbert’s curve. What are the geopolitical and economic ramifications? Are there more shale booms on the horizon overseas? What are the implications for nuclear which has been sidelined in deregulated markets by cheap abundant gas? Leigh Goehri...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 18Ep. 5
Much Ado About Tritium
The topic of tritium continues to be a focal point for nuclear opponents, who use anti-science claims to stoke fear among a public they know does not, by and large, understand complex topics of radiation biology. Thus, to the victims of anti-nuclear ideology, the "science" behind tritium offers little comfort. Still, we try to do our best this week with radiation expert Dr. Geraldine Thomas. Dr. Geraldine Thomas is a senior academic and Chair in Molecular Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine of ...
Mar 08, 2023•48 min•Season 18Ep. 4
How Big Things Get Done
Decouple correspondent, Angelica Oung, joins me for a review of Bent Flyvbjerg’s new book which examines the lessons that can be learned from the failures and successes of mega projects. https://twitter.com/dr_keefer/status/1627709184123740161?s=46&t=Q7nak44UxDdAvVJ7V61RsQ
Feb 27, 2023•43 min•Season 18Ep. 3
Energy Modeling: the Good, the Bad, and the Misleading
Mark Nelson, managing director of the Radiant Energy Group, joins me for a deep dive of the uses and abuses of energy modelling. Intro and outro music: Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona performed by Mark Nelson immediately prior to the interview.
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 18Ep. 2
The Climate Aristocracy
Robert Bryce, author, film producer, and host of the Power Hungry Podcast, discusses his recent article "The Billionaires Behind the Gas Bans", and gives insight into the funding of massive NGOs such as Climate Imperative. "The Billionaires Behind the Gas Bans" article: https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/the-billionaires-behind-the-gas-bans More work from Robert: https://robertbryce.substack.com/ Listen to the Power Hungry Podcast: https://robertbryce.com/power-hungry-podcast/
Feb 13, 2023•47 min•Season 18Ep. 10
It's Not Impossible, We Just Need a Better Plan
Dr. Simon Michaux, Associate Professor at Geometallurgy at Geological Survey of Finland, discusses the minimum requirements for a net zero future, as well as the restraints on our renewables going forward. Read academic works by Dr. Michaux: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon-Michaux-2
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 17Ep. 10
Wizards and Prophets, Ecomodernists and Environmentalists w/ Charles C. Mann
Just as the political spectrum is divided between left and right, thinking on environmental problem solving is similarly split into two rival camps exemplified by the archetypes of the Wizard and the Prophet. Award winning science writer Charles Mann explores these archetypes as personified by the father of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug and the intellectual godfather of the environmental movement, William Vogt. Crudely put wizards are foremost humanists who eschew limits believing that ou...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 17Ep. 9
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