Hardware Podcasts

The U.S. nuclear groundswell

Catalyst · 9 May 2025 · 38m

What this episode covers

Chris Colbert, CEO of Elementl Power, discusses the company's recent partnership with Google to develop three nuclear projects totaling 1.8 gigawatts, aiming to drive down costs through serial deployment rather than one-off builds. He contrasts this current groundswell, driven by hyperscaler demand and corporate PPAs, with the failed 2000s nuclear renaissance, noting that utilities cannot absorb the development risk. Colbert outlines a technology-agnostic strategy, waiting for light water and advanced reactor designs to mature, while emphasizing that labor availability and site selection are critical factors for successful execution.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Elementl Power, Google, NuScale Power, TerraPower, Ontario Power Generation, Dominion, Duke Energy, TVA, AEP, Holtec, Energy Impact Partners, Latitude Media, Anza, EnergyHub
Products
Vogtle, Big Rock Point, Three Mile Island, Palisades

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Circuit · 44m

    Episode 90: TSMC/ASML Earnings Signals, X86 Consortium, Nuclear Trending

    Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze the divergent semiconductor earnings of ASML, whose stock dropped due to Intel and Samsung delaying EUV orders, and TSMC, which reported strong demand. They discuss the newly formed x86 consortium between Intel and AMD, a strategic move to standardize the architecture in response to competitive pressure from ARM, and the Open Compute Platform conference, where liquid cooling and NVIDIA's ecosystem expansion were key themes. Finally, they cover the emerging trend of hyperscalers like Microsoft and Amazon investing in nuclear energy to power data centers, noting a shift in public and political sentiment toward nuclear power.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsManufacturing partners & offshoring
    6 chapters

  • Go/No-Go · 1h 09m

    Bridgit Mendler and Griffin Cleverly talk about building scalable ground stations for satellite networks; cyberattacks on automakers, lead in protein powder; look back at the 1986 Challenger disaster

    Bridgit Mendler, CEO, and Griffin Cleverly, CTO of Northwood Space, explain how they are building scalable, phased-array ground stations to connect with satellites, leveraging cellular supply chains to reduce costs and increase deployment speed. They discuss their 'novel in the aggregate' approach, in-house manufacturing strategy, and the complex regulatory hurdles of deploying a global network. The episode also covers recent manufacturing news, including a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover, nuclear waste regulations affecting Radiant's microreactors, lithium battery fires on Air China flights, and lead contamination in protein powders, before concluding with a detailed analysis of the organizational failures leading to the 1986 Challenger disaster.

    PCB design & layoutWireless & RF
    10 chapters

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 51m

    Igniting the Future: Fusion Power and the Road to Clean Energy with Scott Mercer

    Scott Mercer, Founder and CEO of Focused Energy, explains how his company is commercializing laser-driven nuclear fusion by leveraging the scientific proof of ignition achieved at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF). Mercer details the engineering challenges of transitioning from single-shot research to high-repetition-rate power plants, focusing on the need for 1000s of efficient solid-state lasers and on-site fuel target manufacturing. He outlines Focused Energy's strategy to secure early government and utility partnerships for gigawatt-scale base load power, aiming for commercial deployment in the late 2030s.

    Energy & climate techScaling production
    7 chapters

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 1h 02m

    From Solar’s 90% Cost Crash to AI’s Energy Surge: The Economics Driving Climate Tech

    Pavel Molchanov, an Investment Strategy Analyst at Raymond James, discusses the economic and policy drivers shaping the climate tech sector, highlighting how solar panel costs have dropped 90% and EV adoption has surged in China. He contrasts successful scaling of mature technologies like solar and wind with the struggles of companies like Solyndra, which failed due to high costs despite innovative CIGS technology. Molchanov argues that while deep tech innovations like fusion and solid-state batteries are important, economic viability and business models are the primary determinants of success in the energy transition.

    Policy, trade & tariffsEnergy & climate tech
    7 chapters

  • The Circuit · 43m

    Ep 160: More good News for Intel, AI Model Trends, Future of Datacenter

    Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze Intel's recent strategic moves, including a partnership with Tesla for its 'Terafab' project and co-design work with Google on its IPU, interpreting these as validation for Intel's advanced packaging and foundry capabilities. They discuss the broader semiconductor market's valuation disconnect, noting how investors are shifting focus from established compute giants to obscure optical and mineral supply chain bottlenecks. The hosts also examine the future of data centers, arguing that extreme co-optimization of power (800 VDC) and cooling is becoming essential to unlock compute capacity, and cover Anthropic's rapid product rollout, including its Word connector and 'Mythos' model, while highlighting rising token costs and capacity constraints.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsEnergy & climate tech
    6 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Catalyst. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.