What's the Deal with Nuclear Energy?
The Great Simplification #74 with James Fleay
This week…
Today, I am joined by energy systems expert James Fleay to talk about the current state of nuclear energy and its potential applications in the future. Out of all the potential ‘replacements’ for the subsidy of the fossil labor force we’ve grown used to, nuclear energy is one of the most frequently suggested as being the savior of our modern lifestyles. In this conversation, we take a closer look at what a nuclear energy system would really require, and what sorts of benefits it would offer in return.
James Fleay is an Australian engineer and energy project manager with two decades of experience in design, delivery, operation, and carbon sequestration in the power, oil, and natural gas sectors. Ten years ago, he joined the oil and gas sector to work on the design, delivery and operation of some of Australia’s largest complex energy (LNG) projects. This included 2 years work on one of the largest carbon capture and sequestration projects in the world and another 3 years on a ground-breaking deep-water subsea compression gas project in Australia’s North West. He is the founder and manager of DUNE, Down Under Nuclear Energy, with the purpose of studying the investment case for nuclear energy in Australia and understanding the parameters for its success.
What is the reality of the benefits and costs of nuclear energy? How does it fit into our current mix and our financial situation? Does it have the ability to support ‘human flourishing’ for millenia to come? Will the expansion of it result in a toxic waste situation that we can’t come back from? Or is nuclear energy simply one more piece to the puzzle for complex societies to support - and eventually reduce - their energy demands?
In case you missed it…
Two weeks ago, I posted an analysis of Energy Return On Investment. EROI and its corresponding metric Net Energy, are a great way to understand the energy surplus of a technology - and ultimately of a society. Yet, this way of interpreting the efficiency of an energy source is increasingly being wielded as a precise instrument to compare energy types, especially oil, gas, coal, and renewable technologies. In an increasingly politicized world, there are traps that researchers fall into, resulting in misleading conclusions that can be used to defend ideologies rather than contribute to the body of science. Understanding net energy and its fundamental importance for human societies is critical for understanding the challenges of the future, but if not used thoughtfully EROI may only end up causing more confusion and rancor.
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