AI Demos, Workforce Math, and Answering Nuclear’s Critics
Description
In the 30th installment of The Atomic Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Dr. Goran Calic and Michael Tadrous open with lab updates: early demos of their custom AI for the Canadian nuclear sector with McMaster Nuclear Operations & Facilities and Ontario Power Generation (OPG), plus a check-in on a new workforce input–output model and paper on what it would take to triple Canada’s nuclear capacity by 2050. They also pause to explain what the lab actually studies at the intersection of nuclear, economics, and policy. Then they run another Good Science vs Bad Science segment, taking apart an anti-nuclear op-ed. Point by point they test claims about build times, costs, and LCOE sources, add firming and financing where it belongs, and compare real-world grids like France and Germany. They look at mining risks across uranium, solar, wind, and hydro, clarify what “meltdown” rates really mean, and show how waste is stored and tracked. The takeaway is simple: fix execution and timelines, keep existing plants running where safe, and judge technologies on apples-to-apples numbers that reflect how power systems actually work. Tune in for another thoughtful discussion on all things nuclear.
United States
