Isabelle Boemeke, the author and one of Nucleation's featured Women in Nuclear, has already made an impact on the world of nuclear. She has single-handedly brought today's social media-consuming generation to have a much better understanding of nuclear power via her Tweeting, TikToking and extremely creative videos. Isabelle has given TED Talks and has become a very sought-after speaker. Importantly, her alter-ego, Isodope, has been able to speak candidly and collegially to the interests and concerns of a generation of young women who may be surprised at how seamlessly Isodope can weave a discussion of nuclear power and the importance of clean energy into a video with make-up tips.
Most importantly, however, Isabelle has aimed her prodigious talents at saving nuclear power plants, including the previously doomed Diable Canyon. Once Isabelle engaged along with her massive fan base, saving Diablo Canyon quickly became the politically-correct thing to do. She organized the pronuclear community into organizing a rally in San Luis Obispo, near the plant and secured extremely positive press. She didn't stop there, however, and organized a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to save Diablo Canyon for the sake of not reversing our climate progress, signed by 88 leading scientists. Her team also flooded the zone with one-on-one meetings with assembly members and gained political support from key constitutents of Diablo Canyon. Together with allies across the California spectrum, Isabelle successfully helped to persuade Governor Newsom to stop the premature closure of the plant, and a bipartisan majority of the California's very progressive state assembly passed legislation to that effect.
The publication of Rad Future is just one of the latest feats from Isabelle. Along with the publication of the book, Isabelle released 3 minute video showcasing her vision of the future on a planet that embraces nuclear power. This video is just a tremendous bit of creativity and we hope everyone can see it. Fortunately, you can still find it on Isabelle's X/Twitter account or on the Isodope.com website. It looks like this:
Please click through to the video slightly down the page and enjoy. Then, you can follow Isabelle's activities as the first pronuclear social media influencer in the following places:
Note: If you are an investor in Nucleation Capital's Fund I and you don't receive a copy of Isabelle's book this holiday season, please contact us. If you subscribe before the end of the year, we will forward a copy to you as well. To learn more about our charitable donations for 2025, please see: "Gratitude in Greens & Blues."
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.
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.]
Isabelle Boemeke is a social media influencer who has chosen to use her star power as a fashion model to create educational videos and messages for her followers to advocate for nuclear power as a solution to climate change. Tweeting and posting at Twitter, Instagram and TikTok under the name "Isodope," Isabelle speaks knowledgeably about energy and, in particular, about the benefits of nuclear energy, to a social media-savvy community that is not usually engaged in discussion of energy technology, science, industry or even climate change. This has required both great courage, talent and commitment, and has revealed the power of Isabelle's creativity and resourcefulness. Isabelle has been so successful in doing these things, she was invited to present a TED Talk, which was also well received.
Examples of Isodope Social Media Videos (At Twitter: @Isodope, at Instagram (@I_sodope), at TikTok (@Isodope)
These efforts have had an enormous impact. In 2020, the haute-fashion media outlet, Highsnobiety, ran a cover-story interview with Isabelle which candidly raises the topic of the horrors of the most dangerous energy on earth: fossil fuels.
“Let’s talk about the most dangerous energy source on earth. The World Health Organization blames it for 29 percent of all lung cancers, 24 percent of strokes, a quarter of all heart disease, and 43 percent of chronic lung infections — all of which could be prevented. [It] produces invisible particles that fill up the sky like a bucket, trapping the sun’s heat and choking rivers, plants, and animals like us. The worst of all . . . the companies who burn it are not required to take care of their waste.”
Then, she counters that with a discussion of “what might be the safest power source we have, by many countable metrics,” which, of course, is nuclear energy. Speaking for herself, she claims:
“I think it’s the coolest form of energy. Everything else sucks in comparison. Fossil fuels are obviously bad. It’s just burning stuff like coal, oil, or gas. Solar and wind are fine, but they’re intermittent and very granola. Nuclear is like a technology from the future.”
As impactful as her social media presence has been, Isabelle’s efforts have not been limited to interviews, TikTok videos or even TED Talks. Working with a team under the auspices of the "Save Clean Energy" name, she was the mastermind and powerhouse behind an organized rally that was held in San Luis Obispo in support of saving Diablo Canyon. This rally drew hundreds of people, local politicians and experts, and resulted in a flurry of articles and opinion pieces expressing public support for nuclear energy in California, a place where such views have been in rtreat for decades.
Isabelle Boemeke (holding the sign) is flanked by Save Clean Energy's organizational partners, Heather Hoff and Kristen Zaitz from Mothers for Nuclear (on the left side), and members of other pronuclear groups.
Then, on February 1, 2022, shortly after that public and well-received rally, Isabelle help organize a group of 79 experts to write and send a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to save Diablo Canyon for the sake of not reversing our climate progress. For the many nuclear professionals and energy experts dispairing about the prospects of saving the state's sole remaining nuclear power plant, this was an opportunity to address the Governor as scientific and academic experts in energy and climate action.
What happened next is the stuff of actist legend: Governor Newsom listened! He started to consult his own experts and apparently his own team of energy experts at the CEC, CAISO and elsewhere agreed that shuttering Diablo Canyon would almost certainly cause unnecessarily more severe power outages and likely result in the loss of life. Governor Newsom then began to take the necessary political steps to bring the California legislature around to his point of view.
There were a series of CEC-hosted hearings on Diablo Canyon which invited the public to weigh in. California's pronuclear community attended these sessions in droves. Newsom himself went out publicly to visit Diablo Canyon and explore the truth about the safety of the plant and wrote articles about it, that got published widely in major newspapers. He then sought out support from PG&E executives and the DOE's Civilian Nuclear Credit program for the funding to help the plant restart its licensing work. Fortunately, the DOE had just secured $5 billion in funding for the CNC to help "at risk" nuclear power plants through Biden's Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. There Newsom found a very receptive response, so he was able to avoid having the bulk of the cost of this reversal imposed on the ratepayers. This helped sway the California Legislature to do the right thing. Combined, these actions resulted in the passage of S.B. 468, that laid the authority to save Diablo Canyon.
It seems very clear that the Diablo Canyon rally and the letter from scientists, both of which were organized by Isabelle, provided positive press coverage for the Governor to make his very public about-face on nuclear power. Of course, the fact that two other Democratic Governors, Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Governor Gretchen Witmer of Michigan, both had previously come out in support of their state's nuclear power and still maintained their political support, gave Newsom the confidence to do the same in California, which probably helped greatly with his political calculus.
Nevetheless, Newsom's ability to listen and decide to support Diablo Canyon and nuclear power in general, was an historic political shift for the most overtly progressive and antinuclear state in the union. In doing so, California took the advice of its scientists, distancing itself from Germany, whose politicians were unable to muster the political backbone required to listen to its experts and overrule the antinuclear ideologues (and so shuttered its last nuclear power and now is now sadly razing villages and forests to dig up and burn lignite coal to keep the power on).
Which shows that a single, motivated and talented woman can make a major difference in the fight against emissions.
Brava, Isabelle!
Update: Isabelle has released a wonderful book about her vision of our nuclear future, which is called "Rad Future," short for "radiant." And if you haven't seen the video that she produced and starred in promoting the book, you really should see it. It's mind-blowing! You can access it through her Twitter account.
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