The American Nuclear Society announced its inaugural class of Nuclear 40 Under 40 winners on Dec 13th and we want to congratulate them all. It is rather exciting to see the ANS announce this program, which is not just recognition of the contributions of young people working in the industry. In fact, this reflects a remarkable transformation for the industry overall, which has previously seen decades of decline and the aging of its work force, but which is now seeing growing interest and engagement by young people, reflecting the industry's resurgence.
There are many ways for young professionals to engage with nuclear power, everything from simply studying nuclear engineering or launching a nuclear venture, as did Brad Fox, a founder of Nuclearn (one of our portfolio ventures), all the way to leading the U.S. DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, as is Dr. Katy Hoff, one of the 40 individuals selected. According to the ANS, those selected "represent the exceptional talent, vision, and drive that is transforming the nuclear sector across the community, . . . [with] remarkable commitment, innovation, and leadership in advancing nuclear science and technology, paving the way for a future in which nuclear power and applications will continue to play a vital role in addressing global challenges."
This industry recognition "celebrates the impact these individuals have made in fields as varied as advanced reactor technology research and deployment, radioisotope systems, nuclear policy, waste management, machine learning and artificial intelligence, fusion technology, fuel supply chain development, advanced fuel research, nonproliferation and national security applications, aging management, and many more."
In particular, we congratulate Brad Fox, from Nuclearn, Katy Huff, who heads up the Office of Nuclear Energy, Kurt Terrani of USNC, Harsh Desai of Zeno Power, and Grace Stanke, a former Miss America winner who devoted her year in the spotlight to advocating for nuclear power, and who is now part of Constellation Energy.
Grace Stanke, as the reigning Miss America, has literally changed the face of nuclear power. As a 21-year old nuclear engineering student, she is much more than a pretty face, and is studying to become a nuclear fuels engineer. In her spare time, however, she entered the Miss America contest, was crowned Miss Wisconsin and then, in 2022, won the Miss America pageant. Having the brains to study nuclear engineering is not what distinguishes Miss Stanke, as she serve her year as an ambassador of the Miss America contest. It's that she's chosen to use her platform to promote and elevate the nuclear industry and the benefits of nuclear power for addressing climate change.
Much of the press that she has garnered in her travels this past year, has remarked on the changing trends that Miss Stanke's efforts have aided. Nearly 60% of Americans favor nuclear power plants and believe that the US should protect existing nuclear power and boost nuclear capacity. This represents a big increase from being clocked in at just 43% support as recently as 2020.
Miss Stanke, as Miss America, has an extraordinary platform and she hasn't been shy about using it to support and extoll the virtues of nuclear energy. She's bringing nuclear to entirely new constituents at the same time that nuclear power is gaining traction with governments around the world trying to decarbonize, with filmmakers like Oliver Stone, whose documentary "Nuclear Now," laid the groundwork for more Americans to get educated about the benefits of nuclear power, and with billionaire entrepreneurs and business leaders like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, all of whom have been consistently touting the benefits of atomic energy but probably not reaching too many young women.
As the reigning Miss America and soon-to-be nuclear fuels engineer, Miss Stanke's year-long campaign to promote nuclear power in over 20 states was probably seen by millions of young women students, who now see her as a rolemodel, both highly educated and very elegant and poised, bringing them information that might have been impossible to convey in almost any other way.
Now, combined with the efforts of nuclear social media influencers like Isabelle Boemeke and widely-regarded documentaries, Ms. Stanke is probably sweeping along an entire generation of young women in her wake who may be primed to consider careers in nuclear, where they had previously probably never thought much about nuclear power at all. Now a growing percentage will recognize that nuclear power attracts women like Grace Stanke both for a career but also for its instrumental role in combating climate change and achieving both net-zero goals and sustainable development goals.
Miss Stanke will graduate next year and still has the majority of her professional career ahead of her. But, having accepted a position with Constellation Energy after her graduation, she is sure to continue to have a big impact on the industry.
Eunice Newton Foote, a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton through her father, is believed to be the first scientist to study and conclude that rising carbon dioxide gas levels could raise atmospheric temperatures and impact the earth's climate. Up until 2010, scientists had believed that John Tyndall deserved the credit as the first person to show the involvement of infrared radiation in the greenhouse effect. Although Foote published the results of her experiments as early as 1856, demonstrating the absoprtion of heat by CO2 and water vapor and her hypothesis that changing amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere would alter the climate and despite this being possibly the very first physics publication by an American woman in a scientific journalI wasn't until her work was rediscovered in 2010 that she was recognized as the pioneer that she was.
Eunice Foote was born in Connecticut in 1819 and was a scientists, inventor, mother and women's rights campaigner. After marrying Elisha Foote in 1841, Foote settled in Seneca, where she met and befriended Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was the daughter of Judge Daniel Cady, who was the attorney who had trained Elisha Foote in the law. Although she attended the Rensselaer School and gained a broad education in scientific theory and practice, including laboratory testing, she was denied access to further studies.
From Wikipedia:
Eunice Foote – "Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun's Rays" (1856), American Journal of Science and Arts. Foote recognized the implications of carbon dioxide's heat-capturing properties—the greenhouse effect—for the entire planet.
An amateur scientist, Foote conducted a series of experiments that demonstrated the interactions of sunlight on different gases. She used an air pump, two glass cylinders, and four mercury-in-glass thermometers. In each cylinder, she placed two thermometers and then used the pump to evacuate the air from one cylinder and compress it in the other cylinder. When both cylinders reached equal ambient temperatures, they were placed in the sunlight and temperature variances were measured. She also placed the containers in the shade for comparison and tested the temperature results by dehydrating one cylinder and adding water to the other, to measure the effect of dry versus moist air. Foote noted that the amount of moisture in the air impacted the temperature results. She performed this experiment on air, carbon dioxide (CO2) (which was called carbonic acid gas in her era), and hydrogen, finding that the tube filled with carbon dioxide became hotter than the others when exposed to sunlight.
She wrote: "The receiver containing this gas became itself much heated—very sensibly more so than the other—and on being removed [from the Sun], it was many times as long in cooling".
Foote noted that CO2 reached a temperature of 125 °F (52 °C) and that the amount of moisture in the air contributed to temperature variances. In connection with the history of the Earth, Foote theorized that "An atmosphere of that gas would give to our earth a high temperature; and if, as some suppose, at one period of its history, the air had mixed with it a larger proportion than at present, an increased temperature from its own action, as well as from increased weight, must have necessarily resulted." Her theory was a clear statement of climatic warming caused by increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Foote described her findings in a paper, "Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun's Rays", that she submitted for the tenth annual AAAS meeting, held on August 23, 1856, in Albany, New York. For reasons that are unclear, Foote did not read her paper to those present—women were in principle allowed to speak publicly at the conference—and her paper was instead presented by Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution. Henry introduced Foote's paper by stating "Science was of no country and of no sex. The sphere of woman embraces not only the beautiful and the useful, but the true". Yet, he discounted her findings in the New-York Daily Tribune article about the presentation, saying "although the experiments were interesting and valuable, there were [many] [difficulties] encompassing [any] attempt to interpret their significance".
Clarice Evone Phelps (née Salone) is an American nuclear chemist researching the processing of radioactive transuranic elements at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). She was part of ORNL's team that collaborated with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research to discover tennessine (element 117). The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recognizes her as the first African-American woman to be involved with the discovery of a chemical element.
Phelps was formerly in the US Navy Nuclear Power Program. At ORNL, Phelps manages programs in the Department of Energy's Isotope & Fuel Cycle Technology Division investigating industrial uses of nickel-63 and selenium-75.
Clarice Phelps, who was raised in Tennessee, United States became interested in chemistry during her childhood when she was given a microscope and encyclopedia-based science kit by her mother. Her interest was further nurtured by her secondary school science teachers. Although Phelps completed a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Tennessee State University in 2003, Phelps struggled academically in college. Unable to find employment after graduating, she joined the United States Navy. There, Phelps enrolled in the Navy's Nuclear Power School, which she credits with teaching her "how to study." Phelps studied nuclear power, reactor theory, and thermodynamics and graduated in the top 10% of her class of 300–400 students. In 2019, Phelps told an interviewer that she pursued nuclear chemistry in part because of the lack of black women in the field, commenting: "They needed to see somebody like me sitting in the same spaces that they were at, and excelling in that same space."
Phelps served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy Nuclear Power Program. She spent four and a half years aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, operating the nuclear reactor and steam generator chemistry controls, and maintaining the water in the reactor. She was deployed twice and was the only black woman in her division on the ship.
After serving in the US Navy, Phelps first worked at chemical instrument company in Chicago, Illinois, but a year later she returned to Tennessee. In June 2009, Phelps joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She started as a technician and was later promoted to research associate and program manager. Phelps works in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate as the project manager for the nickel-63 and selenium-75 industrial isotope programs. As a member of Oak Ridge's Nuclear Materials Processing Group, she is part of the research and development staff, working with "super heavy" transuranic isotopes that are produced mainly by nuclear transmutation. She is also a member of the Medical, Industrial and Research Isotopes Group, where she researches elements such as actinium, lanthanum, europium, and samarium.
Phelps was involved in the discovery of the second-heaviest known element, tennessine (element 117). She was part of a three-month process to purify 22 mg of berkelium-249, which was shipped to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and combined with calcium-48 in a fusion reaction to create tennessine. In IUPAC's crediting Oak Ridge laboratory collectively as principal co-discoverer of tennessine, it acknowledged 61 individuals at ORNL who had contributed to the project including members of operations staff, support personnel, and researchers such as Phelps. It recognized Phelps as the first African-American woman involved with the discovery of a chemical element.
Phelps has contributed to additional research efforts, including those of spectroscopic analysis and spectrophotometric valence state studies of plutonium-238 and neptunium-237 and 238 for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). Phelps has also studied electrodeposition with californium-252 for the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade project.
From 2016 to 2020, Phelps earned a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering through the nuclear and radiochemistry program at the University of Texas at Austin. As of 2021, Phelps is a Ph.D. student in the nuclear engineering program at University of Tennessee.
American physicist Katharine Way (1902-1995) is best known for establishing the Nuclear Data Project, an effort to organize and share nuclear data. She was also one of Manhattan Project’s leading female scientists during World War II, where she worked at the the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago. Later, she became an adjunct professor of physics at Duke University.
Her scientific contributions include the “Way-Wigner formula” that was developed with physicist Eugene Wigner and calculates the beta decay rates of fission products. In addition to authoring numerous papers on nuclear data, she also helped launch the scientific journalsNuclear Data Sheets and Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables.
From 1929 to 1934 Way studied at Columbia University, where Edward Kasner stoked an interest in mathematics, and co-authored Way's first published academic paper. She received her BS in 1932 and went next to the University of North Carolina, where John Wheeler stimulated her interest in nuclear physics and she became his first PhD student.
In 1938, Way became a Huff Research Fellow at Bryn Mawr College, which allowed her to receive her PhD for her thesis on nuclear physics, "Photoelectric Cross Section of the Deuteron." She subsequently took up a teaching position at the University of Tennessee in 1939, becoming an assistant professor in 1941.
At a conference in New York in 1938, Way presented a paper, "Nuclear Quadrupole and Magnetic Moments," in which she examined deformation of a spinning atomic nucleus under three models, including Niels Bohr's liquid drop model. She followed this up with a closer examination of the liquid drop model in a paper entitled "The Liquid-Drop Model and Nuclear Moments," in which she showed that the resulting cigar-shaped nucleus could be unstable.
In 1942, Wheeler recruited Way to work on the Manhattan Project at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago. Working with physicist Alvin Weinberg, Way analyzed neutron flux data from Enrico Fermi's early nuclear reactor designs to see whether it would be possible to create a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. These calculations were put to use in the construction of Chicago Pile-1. Afterwards, she examined the problem of nuclear poisoning of reactors by certain fission products. With physicist Eugene Wigner she developed the Way-Wigner approximation for fission product decay.
Way also visited the Hanford Site and the Los Alamos Laboratory. In mid-1945 she moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where she continued her research into nuclear decay. While there, she began to specialize in the collection and organization of nuclear data.
Way moved to Washington, D.C., in 1949, where she went to work for the National Bureau of Standards. Four years later, she persuaded the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council to establish the Nuclear Data Project (NDP), an organization with special responsibility for gathering and disseminating nuclear data, under her leadership. The NDP moved to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1964, but Way remained its head until 1968. Beginning in 1964, the NDP published a journal, Nuclear Data Sheets, to disseminate the information that the NDP had gathered. This was joined the following year by a second journal, Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables. She also persuaded the editors of Nuclear Physics to add keywords to the subject headings of articles to facilitate cross-referencing.
Way left the NDP in 1968 and became an adjunct professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, although she continued as editor of Nuclear Data Sheets until 1973, and Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables until 1982.
Tatjana Jevremovic, a trailblazing nuclear engineer at the IAEA, has always stood out on the job — whether for helping her students embrace the challenges of life or developing a seminal neutronics code that, years later, is still used in Japan for relicensing nuclear power plants. But in an industry famous for being a man’s world, something else has also made her stand out: being a woman.
In 1996, while working as a chief engineer for Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd in Japan, Jevremovic could be easily spotted from a distance walking with scores of strictly uniformed male colleagues at the company’s factory site near the city of Tokai-Mura. The reason: uniforms for female nuclear engineers did not exist in a company that had never had one.
“The working environment in this field is generally not as enabling for women as it could be,” Jevremovic said. “But nuclear science and technology continue to fascinate me to this day—and I would do it all over again.”
As the IAEA marks International Women’s Day on 8 March, the story of Jevremovic’s remarkable career journey, from her native Belgrade to Vienna via Japan and the United States, is both an inspiration for young women considering the nuclear field and a cautionary tale about the potential pitfalls of an industry that, despite efforts to achieve a better gender balance, remains largely dominated by men.
Science, math, learning, culture
Born in then Yugoslavia, Jevremovic from the very beginning was surrounded by science and math and a passion for learning and culture. Her mother, a professor of linguistics and French, instilled in her a drive to succeed by creating her own opportunities. Her geologist father believed math solved all problems.
“I owe my straightforwardness to him,” said Jevremovic, who joined the IAEA in 2016 and serves as Team Leader for Water Cooled Reactor Technology Development in the Department of Nuclear Energy. “He was not the most patient teacher, but I grew to love math nevertheless.”
Growing up in the Serbian capital, she was always fascinated by books, dictionaries, science magazines—anything that imparted knowledge. She wrote poems, started to paint and read voraciously. One day, when she was about 12, she came across a book called On Nuclear Energy by Donald J. Hughes and translated by Dragoslav Popovic, who later became her professor at the University of Belgrade.
“I didn’t know anything about nuclear reactors or nuclear energy—I had only a vague idea about fission,” she said. “The fact that I did not understand it is why I decided, then and there, to study nuclear engineering and chose it as my profession.”
Although interested in the medical applications of nuclear technology, Jevremovic decided to go into engineering. She saw it as more ‘hands on’ and could make a better contribution to society.
Rajka Jovetic, who studied with Jevremovic, witnessed this approach first hand. “During my last year of university, I had a baby. After a few weeks, Tatjana appeared with present for the baby and a big notebook for me. She said: ‘Here, everything is in this notebook, just learn it.’ And it really was: notes from lessons, problems with solutions, all important stuff underlined, it was ... like the best book ever. I passed the exam and went back to the university thanks to Tatjana,” said Jovetic, who today leads automation for HBIS GROUP Serbia Iron & Steel.
After graduation in 1983, Jevremovic went to work as an associate engineer for a company in hydro and thermal power generation and water management. But while she quickly moved up to project leader, her desire to keep learning was too strong. After gaining a master’s degree, in 1990 she was one of four candidates selected worldwide by the Japanese government to be a PhD fellow at the University of Tokyo.
As chief nuclear engineer at Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd, she developed a new neutronics code based on Method of Characteristics. Later, with her team, she produced the first detailed plots of neutron flux in reactor cores using no introduced approximations in the code, which is still used in the relicensing of nuclear power plants in Japan.
We are thrilled to share that Diablo Canyon has been saved—for now! Rather than allowing this clean energy producing power plant to be wastefully decommissioned by those who simply dislike nuclear power, the California legislature, under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom, voted to extend its life by up to 10 years. Senate Bill 846, sponsored by Jordan Cunningham (CA-25, R), passed with nearly unanimous votes in both the Democratically-controlled Assembly and Senate. SB 846 also provides for as much as $1.4 billion in loans from California to PG&E for re-licensing and enables PG&E to also submit a timely application to the DOE's Civil Nuclear Credit program for further aid in re-starting licensing with the NRC and transitioning back to full-operating mode. This is a nearly miraculous win for California's pronuclear advocates and it is worth celebrating both the win and the broader community that made it possible. Please read more at the link.
The Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA) is a 501(c)3 Educational advocacy organization composed of engineers, scientists, and concerned citizens interested in reducing the cost of energy, increasing the availability of critical materials and protecting the health of the planet and the future of the human race. In particular, the group's objective is to lay the foundation for a future that benefits from energy generated by thorium, which is a fertile element about four times more abundant than uranium. Their stated goals are:
To restart a Homogeneous Fuels Research Reactor program and commercialize the Molten Salt Reactor and the supply chain infrastructure behind it.
To establish the United States Thorium-Bearing Rare Earth Refinery Cooperative
Support the reemergence of a Western Rare Earths infrastructure by working with Rare Earth producers to create a cooperative consortium to refine Rare Earths and sequester Thorium for future use.
TEA typically convenes an annual event which updates the community but, due to Covid, it has been three years since the last conference. Thus, this year's event is something of a reunion and celebration for the organization's members. Not only is the group unveiling a new exhibit at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, the conference venue. It is also celebrating a slate of successes achieved by its coterie of pronuclear advocates, who have been working hard to protect America's existing nuclear power plants from premature closures.
The conference is open to any interested party that wants to learn about the latest developments in Thorium Uses, Advanced Energy, Critical Materials, & Policy. Although the event appears to be at capacity, it is possible to participate through a livestream to Youtube for most of the sessions. Day one (Oct. 13th) has been dedicated to a review of the progress of pronuclear policies and advocacy successes, followed by a screening of "Atomic Hope" with a discussion by Director Frankie Fenton. Day two (Oct. 14th) will see more than a dozen speakers, including Valerie Gardner, managing partner of Nucleation Capital, discussing topics ranging from materials advances and grid policies, to the status of specific nuclear ventures and nuclear financing.
Deep Isolation provides a very promising approach to handling nuclear waste globally, which, in itself, serves to enable the expansion of nuclear energy as a means of addressing climate change.
BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The lack of a viable spent fuel disposal solution remains an obstacle to the increasing global interest in nuclear power that guarantees energy security and helps enable a net zero world. Deep Isolation, a leading innovator in nuclear waste disposal solutions, is today kicking off an opportunity for investors to participate in the only scalable long-term solution for nuclear waste.
Deep Isolation's advanced disposal technology brings a promising option to break through the nuclear waste disposal stalemate, enabling a more certain future for nuclear energy developers seeking to capitalize on this ESG opportunity.
With much of Europe and the world increasingly viewing nuclear as necessary for addressing both energy security and climate change, the market is primed for significant expansion, as highlighted with the International Energy Agency's forecast that nuclear capacity will more than double between 2020 and 2050. Investor interest is following, with Clean Tech, ESG, and Climate investors increasingly leaning into advanced nuclear technologies.
One of the most significant enablers for the expanded use of nuclear power is nuclear waste disposal. Starting January 1, 2023, all new nuclear power developers across the European Union will be required under the Complementary Climate Delegated Act to establish operational plans for a disposal solution to meet Europe's climate change aspirations.
"Deep Isolation is solving the 'what about the waste?' problem. Their solution is elegant, effective, distributed and exactly what nuclear energy communities need," said Valerie Gardner, Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital. "Happily, we expect it to be available at the right price and the right time to help enable the growth of next-generation nuclear."
To date, Deep Isolation has raised $24 million, including a $21 million Series A raise in 2020 led by nuclear industry leader NAC International, Inc. The solution provides a new path for accessing the $667 billion addressable nuclear waste disposal market.
"Deep Isolation is well-positioned to deliver significant returns on investment in timeframes that are aligned with VC requirements," said Deep Isolation CEO and co-founder Liz Muller. "Nuclear has become not only a smart investment but a crucial one. With a deadline now set in In Europe, we offer the only timely, scalable, safe, cost-effective option for most countries to meet it."
The company encourages interested parties to submit investment inquiries by September 23. It will be running a competitive process that will kick off on September 26. Visit http://www.deepisolation.com to learn more.
Nucleation Capital, the world’s first advanced nuclear venture fund, provides accredited investors with a range of pathways for investing in ventures like Deep Isolation that are both more accessible and more affordable than typical venture capital. For example, the fund is currently hosting a syndicated SPV for Deep Isolation that enables individuals to participate for as little as $1,000 at the same terms as Nucleation iself invests in the underlying deal.
SPV's can be a very cost-effective way to gain exposure to restricted private equity shares, because it pools investmens from smaller investors into a single vehicle. Accredited investors are invited to join the Nucleation syndicate.1
[Please note: the Deep Isolation syndicate closes on Sept. 30, 2022.]
_________________ Footnote
[1] The Nucleation Syndicate is only for accredited investors and is hosted at AngelList, which conducts its own accreditation. Only those who qualify are able to join this or other syndicated offerings.
Diablo Canyon has been saved—for now! Rather than allowing this clean energy producing power plant to be wastefully decommissioned by those who simply dislike nuclear power, the California legislature, under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom, voted to extend its life by up to 10 years. Senate Bill 846, sponsored by Jordan Cunningham (CA-25, R), passed with nearly unanimous votes in both the Democratically-controlled Assembly and Senate. SB 846 also provides for as much as $1.4 billion in loans from California to PG&E for re-licensing and enables PG&E to also submit a timely application to the DOE's Civil Nuclear Credit program for further aid in re-starting licensing with the NRC and transitioning back to full-operating mode. This is a nearly miraculous win for California's pronuclear advocates and it is worth celebrating both the win and the broader community that made it possible.
While there are a lot of individuals and organizations who contributed to setting the stage for this phenomenal political win for nuclear power in general and Diablo Canyon specifically, there were also considerable underlying political realities that effectively forced the Governor's hand. In particular, the state's own energy experts from CALISO, CEC, as well as academia and industry, expressed extreme alarm at the high level of fragility of the grid and the high risk of power outages even with Diablo Canyon operating. The closure of Diablo Canyon was clearly going to exacerbate the already bad situation. Climate change and state clean energy mandates made the CPUC's plan to replace Diablo Canyon's clean energy with dirty coal power from PacifiCorp anathema to the both the state's goals and the Governor's political reputation. Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in dire energy shortages in Europe and rising gas prices. This is making the world's growing reliance on natural gas both uneconomical and politically unsavory.
With that as the political and economic backdrop, we wish to take a look at some of the individuals and groups that took on prominent roles advocating for nuclear power in general and for Diablo Canyon specifically. Some of these groups worked behind the scenes and some played highly prominent roles. The press has recognized the advocacy of the San Luis Obispo-based Mothers for Nuclear, which has consistently stood up for Diablo Canyon at local hearings, rallies and in the press. This mom-led non-profit further coordinated with Isabelle Boemeke, a model-turned "nuclear influencer," whose online presence "Isodope," introduced a witty, stylish and slightly snarky approach to pronuclear advocacy, sharing her frank messaging with a new generation. Together, they organized several recent and memorable public events, a rally on behalf of Diablo Canyon and the issuance of letter to Governor Newsom signed by 79 prominent scientific experts. As impactful as both of those campaigns were, their success rested upon a foundation of public opinion that had grown stronger due to very considerable contributions from the following very notable individuals and groups:
The Pronuclear Village
(Click to enlarge.)
Nuclear-Focused Writers
James Conca, Forbes Robert Bryce, Forbes and other Michael Shellenberger, Forbes, Environmental Progress Rod Adams, Atomic Insights Catherine Clifford, CNBC
Academics & Scientists
Dr, James Hansen, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, at the Earth Institute of Columbia University Dr. Todd Allen, University of Michigan Dr. Jacopo Buongiorno, MIT Dr. Steven Chu, Stanford University Dr. Jesse Jenkins, Princeton Dr. Jessica Lovering, University of Colorado, Boulder Also, another 75 or so who signed the February 2022 letter to Governor Newsom
Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Catalog Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Dr. Gene Nelson What is Nuclear, Nick Touran Radiant Energy, Mark Nelson Thorium Energy Alliance, John Kutsch Google, Ross Koningstein (IEEE, White Papers) D.J. LeClear, The Rad Guy TEA, Silicon Valley, Alex Cannara Save Clean Energy, Isabelle Boemeke Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Jim Hopf (Nuclear group) 4th Generation Blog, Canon Bryan, Amelia Tiemann Rethinking Nuclear, Richard Steeves
Politicians & Biden Admin
Trump Administration & Congress, laid a foundation with the passage of NEIMA & NEICA Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, loudly pronuclear Senator Cory Booker, introduced his support of nuclear power during the 2019 Primary Climate Debates President Joe Biden, ushered in the Energy Bill of 2020, which funded the Advanced Reactor Development Program (ARDP), to accelerate commercialization of the next generation of reactors Dept. of Energy, Secr. of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, worked overtime to introduce the Civil Nuclear Credit program in a timely way, plus, she has posted many great videos about the need for nuclear to address climate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has expressed her support for the protection of the Palisades Nuclear Power plant and now for Holtec's application to restart it The Infrastructure & Jobs Act, set up the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, with a $6 billion fund to save nuclear power plants, such as Palisades and Diablo Canyon Representative Elaine Luria, has introduced a bevy of important nuclear energy bills, including the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (’19), Nuclear Power Purchase Agreements Act (’21), and Fueling our Nuclear Future Act (’22) All of Congress, has used voice votes to approve key pronuclear pieces of legislation Senator Diane Feinstein, wrote about her support for Diablo Canyon in a number of OpEds DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO), under the leadership of Jigar Shah, has been working to provide Government-guaranteed loans to key projects
Funders
There is a small but dedicated community of funders who have shown a willing to support many of the above non-profits, as well as the various artistic and advocacy campaign initiatives. We are greatful to them, as they have allowed much of the work that others have not been willing to fund, to be produced.
[Please note: All of the above listed groups have websites that are available online. Legislation is all searchable. We are not able to provide links for every group but have provided for some that may be harder to find. If you have trouble finding information you need, please reach out through our contact form. We have had a prime seat for the last decade or so to follow the events but we cannot possibly include everyone or every group that is active in this space. However, if you think we have omitted an important contributor who should be listed as having had a meaningful impact on the decision to save Diablo Canyon, please use the comment box below to send us a private message.]
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Now, combined with the efforts of nuclear social media influencers like Isabelle Boemeke and widely-regarded documentaries, Ms. Stanke is probably sweeping along an entire generation of young women in her wake who may be primed to consider careers in nuclear, where they had previously probably never thought much about nuclear power at all. Now a growing percentage will recognize that nuclear power attracts women like Grace Stanke both for a career but also for its instrumental role in combating climate change and achieving both net-zero goals and sustainable development goals.
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As the IAEA marks International Women’s Day on 8 March, the story of Jevremovic’s remarkable career journey, from her native Belgrade to Vienna via Japan and the United States, is both an inspiration for young women considering the nuclear field and a cautionary tale about the potential pitfalls of an industry that, despite efforts to achieve a better gender balance, remains largely dominated by men.
