# 331: Friendly Tea Kettle

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2020-05-21
- Length: 59m
- Episode: 331
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/331-friendly-tea-kettle

## Summary

Dr. Katy Huff, a professor at the University of Illinois, discusses her work in nuclear engineering and scientific computing, including her O'Reilly book 'Effective Computation in Physics' and her involvement with Software Carpentry. She explains that nuclear reactors are fundamentally 'friendly tea kettles' for boiling water, contrasting commercial light water reactors with highly enriched naval reactors. Huff advocates for reproducible, open-source scientific computing, using Python tools like Pint and specific nuclear packages to ensure accuracy in complex simulations of molten salt and micro-reactors.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=6) Introduction: Katy Huff and Software Carpentry
- [3:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=237) Nuclear Reactors as Friendly Tea Kettles
- [8:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=522) Commercial vs. Naval Reactor Enrichment
- [12:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=764) Safety Statistics and Public Perception
- [19:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=1181) Reproducible Science and Python Tools
- [35:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=2129) The Hacker Within and Unit Testing
- [42:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=2544) Molten Salt and Micro-Reactors
- [55:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle#t=3314) Future of Nuclear: Small Modular Reactors

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Katy Huff (other)
- Effective Computation in Physics (other)
- Software Carpentry (other)
- Pint (tool)
- Pynuc (tool)
- Perk (tool)
- YT (tool)
- Hydra (product)
- Godiva (product)
- Janelle Shane (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep 285: Learning Laser Tricks, Rocket Science, and a Laptop That's Not a Laptop](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2024-08-23-ep-285-learning-laser-tricks-rocket-science-and-a-laptop-thats-not-a-laptop) (Hackaday Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-05-21-331-friendly-tea-kettle. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.