TITANS OF NUCLEAR

Nuclear Outreach in Brazil’s Communities (0:12)
0:12-8:59 (Alice Cunha da Silva explains how a degree in computer science led her all over the world to discover her passion for nuclear engineering and how she shares that passion with her community)

Q: How did you learn about nuclear to begin with?
A: Alice Cunha da Silva has a technical degree in computer science. In Brazil, students must complete an internship in order to get their degree and Alice ended up fixing computers at a nuclear company for her internship. She had to go to the power plants while on the job, not having any idea what the buildings or reactor was. Her college, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, had just opened a nuclear engineering course and Alice became part of the second class of nuclear engineers. Alice’s curiosity led her to discover what was going on inside the nuclear plants and she fell in love with nuclear at that point.

During college, Alice took all the opportunities she had to be involved during her five years of studying engineering. She was the president of student sections, presented research work at international conferences, and was an intern at Oak Ridge National Lab, which was her first trip outside of Brazil. For Alice, nuclear is a mission. It’s a passion of life. The technology has the power of changing the world, and not only energy, but all the applications for nuclear technology that touches people’s lives. She tries to leverage her connections in the organizations she is part of to do projects that would make people know about nuclear. One of Alice’s projects is Nuclear Science Week; this year was the first year Brazil hosted the event and associated activities. They took journalists inside a research reactor in Sao Paulo and also took professors from basic education, since they are multipliers of the information. Events during Nuclear Science Week included tours of nuclear medicine labs, informational events on the street, and presentations to public education students. The focus of Nuclear Science Week in Brazil was reaching out to people who had no idea what nuclear is and the impact it has on their lives. Alice created the Nuclear Ambassadors program in 2017 with the idea to get groups to create long term activities on communication of nuclear and focus on the sustainability goals of the United Nations, showing how nuclear can help achieve those goals. More than 20 groups around the country applied and another project is launching soon. These two projects in communications show to the citizens in Brazil, and perhaps expanded to Latin America, the importance of nuclear technology in their lives and get support.

A Shift in Brazil’s Nuclear Political Climate (8:59)
8:59-16:53 (How Brazil runs its nuclear industry a little differently, from its focus on communication strategies to its operational structures)

Q: Tell me about how you communicate with people about nuclear.
A: The perception of risk that people have and the fear they have is not something logical that can be put in numbers. For an engineer, the risk is a number and the amount of risk an activity has is known because it can be calculated and is a probability. For a non-engineer or non-technical person, risk is not a number. The risk is a feeling, but some risks they take willingly. The projects Alice Cunha da Silva creates and runs are based on dialogue, two-way communication. She didn’t want just lectures and conferences, which are great for another purpose, but not for talking to people about nuclear in different perspectives. Alice is a councilwoman in the Brazilian Association of Nuclear Energy, joining when she proposed the Nuclear Ambassadors program.

Brazil is facing a different reality now because the government is very positive about nuclear and are looking into expansion and creating inter-ministry working groups. There is a push for improving nuclear activities around the country. Electronuclear, the operator of the Brazilian utilities, is doing an amazing program to show people how nuclear is good. The government has created a working group that is looking into a strategy for nuclear communication in the country. Brazil has one of the biggest reserves of uranium in the world and was able to develop their technology for enrichment, going from the mining to the fuel.

Growth and Challenges of the Nuclear Industry (16:53)
16:53-23:54 (Alice shares her perspective on growth and challenges in Brazil’s nuclear industry)

Q: From your perspective, how do you see the growth of the nuclear industry developing?
A: Alice Cunha da Silva sees very positive growth of the nuclear industry in Brazil. When the structures were being constructed and people started to study it, the level of discussions changed. Before, the technology had to be defended and now, the technology has to be made visible. Brazil is a big country and there are several sides of government. In this moment in Brazil, the challenge is cost and financing. It’s also a challenge to have people that are not pro-nuclear as decision-makers, but it is a different scenario than before which has more in-depth discussions about how to make it possible. Brazil is starting to look into different possibilities of technology, a decision made by the government. The companies that run the nuclear power plants are state-owned companies, so the government has a lot of influence on the decisions. Electronuclear is the sole organization running nuclear power plants in Brazil. Up to this point, Electronuclear has also been the builder of the plants, but that may change going forward. There is a working group formed by different actors in the government - not only the Ministry of Mines and Energy, but different players - looking into different business models for Angra 3.

International Nuclear Atlantic Conference (23:54)
23:54-32:32 (An inside look into the engaging discussions and participation at the International Nuclear Atlantic Conference)

Q: What are some of the goals and outcomes of the International Nuclear Atlantic Conference (INAC)?
A: The International Nuclear Atlantic Conference (INAC) is a mark on the Brazilian nuclear industry and is the largest nuclear conference in Latin America. This year, the theme of the conference is Nuclear New Horizons: Fueling our Future, looking into the positive perspective of expanding nuclear and knowing the possibilities this technology has to better society. The INAC is comprised of four major events: the Meeting of Nuclear Applications, the Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Physics and Thermal Hydraulics, and Jr Poster. Jr Posters are students who present their research work during the conference, receiving more than 900 abstract applications and 687 full papers accepted and presenting posters and oral presentations. Discussions include nuclear medicine, new reactor technology, and space applications, among others.

Some new discussions were added, including Women in Nuclear. Diversity is important, not only because women have a place in that area, but also because it improves production and efficiency. Women in Nuclear is a global organization, of which Brazil has a chapter. One of the goals of Women in Nuclear is to demystify nuclear technology and also bring more women and girls into science. Having role models for young girls in different areas of science is a step towards bringing more women into science careers. A new mentoring program was also brought into INAC to bridge the gap between senior and more experienced professionals with young professionals. The Nuclear Ambassadors award is new this year and there is also a new workshop about thorium.

Alice Cunha da Silva’s wish for the future is improvement of the recognition of the importance of nuclear. This will come with communication and policy implementation. Some countries are using nuclear as a health measure for pollution. Seeing Brazil move towards expansion of this program, the challenge is that cooperation between different players happens in order to grow the use of nuclear technology, not only in reactors, but also in medicine. There is a lot of room for development in this area. Alice’s goal is to contribute to the expansion of nuclear by doing her part working and developing different programs, believing that, if you want a better world, nuclear has to be involved in that. More use of nuclear technology in Brazil and around the world will improve people’s lives in all different areas.

Early Design Review of Angra 1 (0:29)
0:29-9:22 (Claudio Almedia reflects on his international nuclear education and how it prepared him for a design review of Brazil’s first nuclear plant, Angra 1)

Q: How did your start in nuclear begin?
A: Claudio Almeida was born in North Brazil, but moved South when he was still a baby. He received his degree in electrical engineering at the University of Rio Grande do Sul, taking an additional Introduction to Nuclear course in his final year of his studies. At the conclusion of this course, Claudio went to São Paulo to pursue his Master’s, the home of what is now IPEN, the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute. At this time, he was being trained as an operator of the research reactor. Claudio was selected as one of eight students to go to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the Special Master’s Program. After completing the program, Claudio was accepted to MIT, where he stayed for four years working on his PhD focused on simulation of kinetics problems in reactors. Once finished, he returned to Brazil, who had started construction of Angra 1 and signed a large technical agreement with Germany related to the transfer of technology for nuclear energy. This transfer included the whole fuel cycle, from mining to enrichment, fabrication, and reprocessing.

At this time, Brazil was growing at 12% a year and nuclear was an energy solution because the hydro plants in the South and East were exhausted and were very far away in the North. Increased nationalization was also a goal of the country, but a well-planned program was met with poor execution and an economics crisis. Claudio decided to stay at CNEN, the National Nuclear Energy Commission, which had created the first technical group to do a review and analysis in the license of the Angra 1 plant. This group, called Core Analysis Group, did an analysis on the core and other groups were developed later to analyze civil and mechanical engineering and instrumentation and controls. Claudio was put in charge of Mission Angra 1, the review and analysis of Angra 1 and, later on, the commissioning and inspection of the plant. When the director of the division of nuclear safety from IAEA came to Brazil, a technical cooperation project was proposed with the assistance of the Agency and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Claudio went to the the NRC’s simulator to be trained to license new operators. The D2 steam generators had a vibration problem abroad, which affected plants across the world. Brazil decided to halt the commission of Angra 1 plant to wait for a technical solution, at which point Claudio moved to Vienna.

Analysis of Soviet-designed Reactors (9:22)
9:22-21:09 (How technical issues in Soviet-designed nuclear power plants were identified, analyzed, and corrected to improve plant performance)

Q: Tell me more about how these technical issues influenced what the industry did at that point moving forward.
A: Multiple power plants abroad had common vibration issues with the D2 steam generators. Sweden did some mock-ups and experiments, leading to Westinghouse discovering the problem and implementing it worldwide. The Krško Nuclear Power Plant, in what was then Yugoslavia, is a sister plant to Angra 1. In 1980, the plant requested assistance from the Agency who organized a group to go look at the plant. Claudio Almeida was invited to participate in this mission under the Division of Nuclear Safety at IAEA. He performed calculations for review and analysis of nuclear power plant designs, focusing on accident analysis. The idea was to put computer codes that do the moedling in the agency’s computer and make them available for people to come and do the calculations. However, this meant that only countries located close to Vienna would be able to use the computer; these neighboring countries all used Soviet-designed reactors. Claudio began to be involved with the design of Soviet reactors right at the beginning of the Cold War, making it very difficult to work on from a political point of view. He organized meetings between countries to exchange information on calculations and identifying problems and solutions of the plants. The Agency supported Hungary’s development of a VVER simulation facility, sharing equipment with Hungary in exchange for the test data.

Some of the VVER-440 technical troubles early on stemmed from a design that had a very limited design basis accident. These reactors had six loops, so the accumulator doesn’t inject at all the loops. If one loop breaks, where the accumulator is determines a different progression of the accident. The VVER-440 also doesn’t have containment and the pumps don’t have large flywheels, limiting the inertia of the pumps. After working on this project for seven years, Claudio began preparing to return to Brazil, but Chernobyl happened and the Soviet Union came to an end. From Chernobyl, Europe realized that an accident anywhere is an accident everywhere. Western Europe got scared and decided that it wasn’t sufficient just for their reactors to be safe; they wanted reactors across the border to be safe.

Ripple Effects of Chernobyl Across the Globe (21:09)
21:09-31:22 (Claudio explains how Chernobyl changed the international nuclear industry and how safety missions were conducted at VVER and RBMK sites)

Q: Tell me more about the safety evaluation of the VVER.
A: The Agency started a special project to improve the safety of the VVER’s, supported by the European community. The EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) created a large fund for the project. Claudio Almeida was hired by the project because he was the only person that worked on these reactors for seven years. The first thing done was a focused design review of the VVER-440 V230. Deficiencies were identified and a safety mission was called at each of the sites. The safety mission was a combination of the design review and operational review. Claudio’s first mission was at Bohunice in Slovakia, followed by Novovoronezh and Kola in Russia, and Kozloduy in Bulgaria. All the problems were connected to deficiencies in instrumentation and controls. Of the hundred deficiencies identified, all action items were ranked based on criticality of fixing the deficiencies.

The next step was the VVER-440 213, a more modern reactor design. The same safety analysis was completed. The next step was the 1000MW reactors in Russia and Ukraine, followed by a review of the RBMK’s. Lithuania had the largest RBMK’s at the time; these reactors were also in Russia and Ukraine. In spite of the recent accident, two of the reactors at Chernobyl were still operating and shut down much later on. Over time at the end of the Soviet Union, countries started to create lateral agreements with the U.S. and European communities and also divided themselves into other countries. The special project for Soviet-designed reactors became less important and Claudio decided to return to Brazil, where Angra 2 was finally being finished.

Claudio returned to CNEN and got involved with the safety convention. One of the consequences of Chernobyl was making sure all the reactors had the same level of safety. Immediately after Chernobyl, two international conventions were developed. One involved the notification of an accident, which the Soviets didn’t do during Chernobyl. The second involved assistance in case of accident, because some countries couldn’t cope with the aftermath of an accident. The Convention of Nuclear Safety was developed as part of the International Nuclear Safety Regime.

Brazil’s Current Nuclear Climate (31:22)
31:22-44:56 (A look at new nuclear organizations developed after Chernobyl and the current state of Brazil’s nuclear climate)

Q: What was the next phase of your career?
A: When Claudio Almedia returned to Brazil, Claudio served as an advisor to the Director of Nuclear Safety in CNEN. He was later invited to be an advisor to the President of CNEN on matters of safety. The International Nuclear Safety Regime involves three pillars: the binding safety conventions, the international accepted nuclear safety standards, and a system of peer review. When Claudio came to the Agency, the international standards were the NUSS (Nuclear Safety Standards) program. This was reorganized after Chernobyl because they realized much more detail was needed. The Commission for Nuclear Safety Standards was created with four committees: nuclear safety, radiation protection, waste, and transport. Each committee was responsible for developing their own standards. After Three Mile Island in the U.S., the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) because the importance of nuclear operators was realized. After Chernobyl, the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) was created, covering all countries. At the same time, the IAEA had the safety review missions and did review of the plants like WANO, but also reviewed seismic design, radiation protection, and transportation. The Agency also developed the IRRS (International Regulatory Review Service), which reviews the regulatory service of a country. Claudio participated in a mission in the United Arab Emirates during the start of construction, in Belgium, which has two regulatory bodies, and in Chile, which doesn’t have nuclear power plants, but has research reactors. The Agency documents and standards state they should be apply in a graded approach, meaning the requirements may be looked at and reconsidered based on the risk of a facility.

During Claudio’s time at CNEN, he got involved with the licensing of Angra 2 and the Navy’s lead-based nuclear reactor. With changes in government, Claudio decided to retire, but still got involved with some of the IAEA activities. He also got involved with the World Nuclear University (WNU), first as a lecturer, than later on as a mentor. Claudio took a two year break from everything nuclear, but got a call last year from ABEN. He was always involved with LAS-ANS, the Latin Amerian Section of the American Nuclear Society. Brazil has ten societies related to nuclear in Brazil, including physics, medicine, biophysics, and radiation protection. ABEN is the largest organization in scope, covering all the areas of energy, applications, and utilization. Nuclear energy is important to the world because consumption of energy will increase, especially in developing countries. Although there is very good progress in wind power and solar power, these plants have a problem of being intermittent. In Northeast Brazil, there is a good possibility of using wind power, but nuclear energy is needed as a base. In the rest of the world, China and India need power and are constructing several reactors. Many countries in Europe are also constructing new reactors. Everyone is relying on nuclear power for the base loads, with the advantage that the plants can be placed near the consumption centers without relying on nature to produce energy when it wants.

Brazil’s Government and Private Sector Roles in Nuclear (0:26)
0:26-8:57 (Celso Cunha recounts his career working with Brazilian governments and private companies and how it led to his leadership at ABDAN)

Q: Tell me about yourself.
A: Celso Cunha is an electrical engineer who worked with a subway company for a while before pursuing his Master’s and PhD degrees in applied mathematics. His focus was on optimization of systems in general. Celso worked for the government for many years on all different levels, including the municipality, state, and federal levels. Five years ago, Celso left the government and became Commercial Director of NUCLEP, a company that manufactures heavy, technological components. The nuclear area in Brazil has a lot of federally-owned companies, but the government is working to change the law to bring private companies closer to the industry. Initially, the government had the idea to control everything in the nuclear industry, but time has shown that it is impossible to do that and private companies are needed.

ABDAN (Brazilian Association for the Development of Nuclear Activities) is a group comprised of all the Brazilian companies related to nuclear. After working at NUCLEP for two years, he was asked to become the vice president. Celso worked a lot with the governments and private companies, gaining skills in relations with both, and was later asked to step in as president. One of his successful projects was building a university from the ground up with all money coming from private companies. Celso is also known for putting energy in new areas. Celso prides himself on always finishing 100% of his projects, all with private money in the public area. The nuclear sector nowadays doesn’t only deal with nuclear power plants, but also in the medical sector. A new group was started to oversee the medicine in nuclear and is growing new companies very quickly. Another government working group getting started is the communications group.

Brazilian Association for the Development of Nuclear Activities (8:57)
8:57-19:28 (Celso explains the role of ABDAN in Brazil’s nuclear space and how it connects with the industry side of nuclear activities)

Q: What are the main goals of ABDAN?
A: ABDAN (Brazilian Association for the Development of Nuclear Activities) focuses on the economic area in Brazil. There are ten associations that work in the Brazilian nuclear sector, but only ABDAN works with industry, while other associations work with academia or doctors. In the last three and a half years, ABDAN has elevated to a higher level of association. At a gala lunch, ABDAN presents four medals to people who made a difference in the sector. This year, three government ministers committed to involvement in ABDAN, as well as CEO’s of many different companies. These companies include Westinghouse, Framatome, and Brazilian companies that work in areas anywhere from submarine system controls to security and defense. Right now, approximately 60% of a nuclear reactor project could be built in Brazil. In all the parts of construction, the large components of the power plant can be made by NUCLEP and other companies can make parts of these components. Brazil also has companies that make parts related to safety and security, but have lost a lot of companies in this area in the last ten years. If there are three new power plants being constructed, Brazil could supply up to 85% of the components. The Energy Ministry aims to start building two new nuclear power plants within the next three years. The uranium mining market is going to be re-opened, via INB and private companies, to supply these new power plants. Brazil has one of the most abundant uranium repositories in the world.

In one area of study, Brazil had enough uranium to supply 13 new nuclear power plants for 256 years. This abundance provides an opportunity for Brazil to provide uranium internationally. In the Brazilian state Ceará, the Santa Quitéria reserve has 20% uranium and 80% potassium. Potassium is used in other industries and is currently being imported into Brazil.

Innovation in Brazil’s Nuclear Sector (19:28)
19:28-29:56 (An inside look at how Brazil is driving innovation in the regulation, development, and financing of nuclear around the country)

Q: Is the industry looking to make nuclear power plants smaller, moving towards the model of manufacturing small modular reactors?
A: Brazil has the rainforest that has limited nuclear development so far. This is a very good problem to solve with small reactors. Another problem is in the Northwest of Brazil where it is very dry and a small desalination reactor could be built, providing water and energy to the area. It is very difficult to build new hydroelectric plants in Brazil because the best sites are already built. New sites would have to be built inside the Amazon, which is very difficult. In Brazil, the electrical systems are connected and managed by one company.

Regulations are the limiting factor in nuclear development. Many people in the regulator are starting to retire and new people are coming in, but a strong group is needed. Earlier this year, the government decided to separate the regulator from CNEN (Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear), which, in the past, has been a large group involved in research and industry as well as regulations. Another very important project is the RMB (Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor), which will produce more molybdenum for medical purposes. At this moment, Brazil imports all the molybdenum, so it is important to produce within the country. It will take six years to get more molybdenum in the market.

Brazil also works closely with Argentina in the nuclear space. Brazil plans to host a very big business meeting in Rio de Janeiro to collaborate with small start-ups and the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The idea is to have a transmission with NEI at the end of this year for all the companies in the United States to have opportunities in Brazil. Brazil is showing that they are opening their market to private companies, not only from the U.S., but other countries around the world. Now is the time to come to Brazil.

From the Brazilian Navy to the Energy Sector (0:12)
0:12-11:41 (Carlos Freire Moreira reflects on his time in the Brazilian Navy and how the civilian industry adapted Naval technology in the energy sector)

Q: You are the President of Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), which plays a large role in fueling the future of nuclear energy.
A: Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) is in charge of the full fuel cycle of uranium, including mining, enrichment, conversion, and the making of pellets and assemblies. The Navy developed the whole fuel cycle for the design and construction of nuclear submarines. In the past, they understood it was very important to have knowledge about the whole fuel cycle and INB gets this knowledge, mainly regarding enrichment. Carlos Freire Moreira started in the Navy in 1973 in the Naval College, followed by the Naval Academy. He became a naval engineer in the Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo, leading to a career in maintenance, design, and construction of submarines and subsurface ships. Carlos was first exposed to nuclear in the Naval Academy and later during his Master’s degree in France where he studied nuclear propulsion. After retiring from the Navy, he served as the director for the enrichment part of INB from 2005-2008.

The development of the enrichment cycle was developed over a long period in Brazil. The main point of the centrifuge process, which was developed by the Navy, is that the centrifuge is based on the rotation and the different weight of the uranium-235 and uranium-238. There is no mechanical contacts, but instead float using electromagnetic forces. The development of the enrichment plant was very difficult and failed many times. From time to time, the rotation and length would be increased, causing problems because the rotation was very high. If anything is misaligned or the energy varies, it can cause failure. A cascade is a configuration in which all the centrifuges are put in a sequence and the higher enriched uranium is passed into the next line of centrifuges, similar to a cascading effect.

In 2008, Carlos left the Navy to enter the employee market and pursue other opportunities. He became an advisor for Thales, a French company, for the Navy program. Carlos had to get approval from the Brazilian Navy to work with Thales.

Brazil’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle (11:41)
11:41-19:41 (Carlos gives an in depth look at INB’s goals of developing all levels of the uranium fuel cycle)

Q: When did you join Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB)?
A: Carlos Freire Moreira first worked for Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) while he was in the Navy. People in INB were always attached to the development and interest of the Navy. This made it much easier to discuss and follow projects. One Brazilian company, NUCLEP, makes heavy industrial vessels and pressure hulls for Navy submarines. In 2014, Carlos finished his job in Itaguaí Construções Navais and was also acting as an advisor for the wind and solar sectors of renewable energies in the Northeast region of Brazil. Carlos accepted an invitation to lead INB in February of this year. He tried to change and improve some sectors of the country, mainly trying to push ahead the mining of uranium. Mining stopped in 2015, but Carlos hopes to restore production of uranium in the country by the end of the year by working closely with the regulator. Two-thirds of the country is still to be explored for mining. Uranium is often found with other metals like gold or phosphate. INB has a monopoly of the reserves where uranium is the biggest value mineral and cannot be explored by private companies. There are plans to try to make this process more flexible. In Phase 1 of this change, private companies can make investments where INB does not have enough money. In Phase 2, there would be enough production that it can be offered out for mining.

Energy Sector Balancing with Nuclear (19:41)
19:41-31:11 (How different applications for uranium and the state of other energy resources all lead back towards more nuclear energy)

Q: Do you see a new generation of reactors coming online that are going to increase the worldwide demand for all parts of the uranium fuel cycle?
A: Carlos Freire Moreira sees people throughout the world understand that they must have a strong energy base that includes nuclear. Other uses for the uranium, such as medical applications and food preservation, are rising in demand. The nuclear power plants will provide production of secure energy, because other types of plants, like hydro, rely on resources such as rain whose patterns are changing with climate change. Germany decided to stop the production of nuclear power plants and are now talking about increasing the use of electric cars.

Carlos is from Fortaleza in the Northeast region of Brazil. Other states in the region have large wind and solar production, but there are some days which don’t have enough wind or sun and only low levels of energy is produced. Nuclear in Brazil produces around 2% of the country’s energy. The ability to increase nuclear capacity is limited by investments. A nuclear power plant like Angra costs around $25 billion. Brazil is trying to use all energy sources. Some wind generators are around 4-5 gigawatts. To have this size solar plant, 10,000 square meters would be required to produce the same amount of energy. One thing that increases the cost of nuclear power plants is the regulations and the control of all the activities. The problem of how to store the waste is also very important. Brazil’s security for the workers and environment is more strict than in the U.S. There was a big problem when INB went to get the license for the first cascade because they tried to use the regulations from nuclear in the enrichment plant. The quantity of uranium in a reactor compared to a big cascade enrichment plant is much, much smaller. The regulator was flexible in their evaluation of this enrichment plant.

Regulations in Different Phases of the Fuel Cycle (31:11)
31:11-38:13 (Carlos reviews current work within Brazil on how to focus regulations and diversify the country)

Q: Are there similar conversations in Brazil about making the regulator more flexible to make development easier?
A: Yes, Brazil is having conversations about making regulations more flexible. One working group looks at problems such as regulations for enrichment plants, waste storage, and communication. Demands are analyzed to determine whether they are or are not necessary. The goal is not to make regulations more flexible, but instead to follow the rules that are necessary. When Carlos Freire Moreira first arrived at INB, he thought the importance of nuclear energy was to provide energy closer to the final user. While nuclear provides 2% of the country’s electricity, Angra 1 and Angra 2 provide close to 30% of electricity for Rio de Janeiro alone. When the plants were built, the utilized existing transmission infrastructure with only a few new kilometers of connections. There is some part of the country that are not integrated and the forests make it very difficult to connect. Nowadays, Carlos is very happy to see how nuclear energy can be used in the medical scene, for advanced exams, and also for food preservation, along with many other applications. The nuclear branch has become more important, not only for energy production. Small modular reactors (SMR) can provide energy to villages far from the big reactors. The nuclear branch is important for all of these applications.

"Brazilian Navy Nuclear Program (0:17)
0:17-9:10 (Leonam Guimarães reflects on his career in the Brazilian Navy Nuclear program)

Q: Your country has an incredible history with nuclear technology and it’s on your shoulders to make sure it’s successful.
A: Leonam Guimarães is the CEO of Electronuclear, a Brazilian electric utility company that operates three nuclear power plants. Brazil has a long history in nuclear. At the end of the Second World War, the first director of the United Nations’ Commission of Atomic Energy was a Brazilian. This organization is now IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). At the time, very few people had knowledge of the subject outside the military establishment. Nuclear power was the worst case of marketing in the world. The technology was presented to humankind at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This created a lot of negative images that are very difficult to change. Looking back at the history of mankind, man made big jumps when they found more energy that was more concentrated, starting with fire, the use of biomass. The discovery of coal brought a revolution and the discovery of oil brought another revolution. Fifty years after the discovery of oil, nuclear fission was discovered, which is ten times more dense than oil. However, this new revolution hasn’t happened yet because of the “original sin” of using the technology as a weapon.

When Leonam was very young, a nuclear physics student came to Leonam’s house selling encyclopedias. This was the first time Leonam heard about nuclear and it captured his curiosity. When he finished his engineering studies later on, Leonam was recruited to start working in the Brazilian Naval Nuclear program as an engineer, which had just gotten started in the 1980’s. The decision to build the first civilian power plant was made in the 1960’s. Construction of Angra 1 started in the 1970’s and was operational by 1985. As a Captain in the Navy, Leonam was in charge of development and the design coordination of a lead prototype for nuclear propulsion, eventually serving 25 years. Experimentation is the basis of the development of new technology and it is costly.

Brazil’s Civilian Nuclear Sector (9:10)
9:10-16:09 (The history of Brazil’s civilian nuclear sector and plans for future development)

Q: What was your role when you came to the commercial sector in 2005?
A: When Leonam Guimarães transitioned to the commercial nuclear sector in 2005, he served as Chief of Staff of the president of Electronuclear. The challenge at the time was to restart the construction of Angra 3. Construction of Angra 2 was stopped for ten years, restarting in 1997, due to financial challenges. The challenge was managing a large amount of capital over a long period of construction. The next new reactor build is considering two additional gigawatts in the Northeast region and two additional gigawatts in the Southeast region. Some areas have been identified for site selection studies. If small modular reactors (SMR) will be used, they must demonstrate that they can sustain the promise. Previously, large reactors were pursued to decrease the cost, but it must be demonstrated that smaller reactor can actually cost less. It will be easier to finance larger plants if there is strong support from the government. The environment now is completely different and big jobs are difficult, so a different strategy may be needed.

Brazil has a lot of hope that the lead prototype of the Navy is a good step in the direction of SMR’s. The developments of the Navy could be transferred directly to the civilian sector. New startup companies are developing new concepts; they are a revolution, not an evolution. They are remaking old concepts, but it is a long path to make things licensable and to create a supply chain.

Development of New Nuclear Concepts (16:09)
16:09-26:38 (Leonam addresses challenges of changing technologies and how innovation can pave the way to success)

Q: Is there a way to think about new nuclear development in terms of innovation without thinking about the core itself, but making sure construction gets done on time and on budget?
A: Challenges with reactor construction are known, but it continues to be a challenge. There are problems with costs and delays on all big projects. Going to smaller projects is rational, but it must be proven out. Demonstration in terms of licensing can be challenging for small modular reactors (SMR). Gains of scale, in terms of quantity not size, must be demonstrated. The nuclear authority is responsible for licensing of all solutions in Brazil, including the lead prototype reactor. They are created based off the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the precursor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). New concepts cannot be licensing using the same frameworks used for the big, conventional reactor technologies. In some way, all the regulatory bodies in the world are influenced by the U.S. model.

Change is natural, but the challenge is how to make it faster. Different generations must try to understand the mindset of other generations. Incentives are often used in start-ups, but it must also be used in the regulatory body as well to encourage innovation. Innovation needs a special approach; it cannot be approached with the standard models. Sometimes safety is seen in terms of hardware and equipment and software, but safety is really about the people. Investing a lot in equipment for safety means losing chances to better enhance safety on the human side. The nuclear sector has people interested in the field and more people are being educated for nuclear careers. It is an attractive field, even though there is still some fear of nuclear.  

Renewables and Flexible Nuclear Energy (26:38)
26:38-34:31 (How hydroelectricity and nuclear energy can be used together to balance Brazil’s electrical system)

Q: Why is Brazil stopping at two gigawatts? It doubles today’s capacity, but why not build more?
A: To manage an electrical system, diversity is the main component in balance. Brazil cannot make a policy like France which is all nuclear. Brazil is a huge country that must look for diversity and has a road for all possible energy sources, with the exception of geothermal. The goal for nuclear energy production in Brazil is around 5-10% of the country’s energy, currently providing 2.5% of the electricity. To reach a low-carbon future, Leonam Guimarães’ dream is to have renewables and flexible nuclear energy. Brazil’s electrical system is more than 70% renewable. This consists of mostly hydro, but there is not as much room for growth in that sector, due to the topography and location of the water. However, nuclear and reservoirs can be used together to store energy, with the reservoirs acting as batteries. The value of hydro storage is growing. If flexibility is introduced to nuclear via small modular reactors (SMR) to match a variable demand, it can be the system of the future. Very few countries have the big reservoirs that Brazil has.

Fossil fuels are so valuable and useful for a lot of different uses, such as plastic production, that it doesn’t have to be used for electricity production. The climate change is happening. The degree of the influence of humans in the climate change is a big discussion, but it is clearly an important component. Clean energy is a revolution that did not happen in the 1950’s, when nuclear technology was first developed. It is not a fission revolution, but a clean energy revolution in which fission plays a big role
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From Diplomat to Nuclear Representative (0:48)
0:48-7:18 (Marcel Biato explains how a career in diplomacy prepared him for work in the nuclear industry and the unique challenges that come with it)

Q: Where did you learn about nuclear energy to begin with?
A: Marcel Biato is a career diplomat, which holds the fundamental challenge of being an observer of the dynamics of the politics of things and of people. Marcel has worked on such issues related to war and peace, promoting development, military affairs, international law, and human rights. In the nuclear field, one can use their professional experience as a catalyst in helping to bring about fundamental changes in the industry. Some changes needed in the nuclear industry are in perception, making people appreciate what has been achieved, and in risks, and how they can be overcome to the benefit of the population. Marcel’s diverse background as a diplomat prepared him well for his current role as the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Marcel’s father was a diplomat, but Marcel has always been interested in history, culture, and language. He was born in Argentina, but moved around the globe frequently while growing up and throughout his career, including places such as South Africa, Brazil, the United States, Holland, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Bolivia.

At this moment, one of the fundamental challenges that Brazil is facing is making the economy more competitive. Gas in Brazil is about six times as expensive in the U.S. and three times more expensive than Europe because of the cartels. The idea that the state accumulates resources and dishes it out in a strategic mechanism is common in Latin America, but it must be open to society and entrepreneurs are needed to get things done. The current system focuses resources and decides where they go, which is very inefficient. Nuclear in Brazil is one of the first industries attempting to open up to the public. Mining is going to be open to the private sector and Angra 3 is going to be finished with foreign corporation resources.

Brazil’s International Nuclear Relationships (7:18)
7:18-14:50 (How Brazil is opening up the previously State-run nuclear industry to private companies and the history between Argentina and Brazil’s nuclear programs)

Q: What are some of the things that structurally need to change? Because nuclear has previously been the domain of the State. Do laws need to change in order to make it more open?
A: Marcel Biato’s first step to making the Brazilian nuclear industry open, which has already been taken, is identification of the gaps and structural constraints. A fundamental challenge in Brazil is to make good on the fundamental advantages the country has. Brazil is ranked in the top ten countries in the world for available uranium resources and the country has mastered the fuel cycle. However, there is difficulty getting uranium out of the ground, through the fuel cycle, and into Brazilian power plants. Most of the gaps are structural, legislative, and related to financial or public opinion difficulties. The fundamental challenge is to make the nuclear fuel cycle commercially viable. The first step is to open up the mining and deal with the environmental and institutional issues related to making the mine work. Infrastructure must be built to deal with the gasification, which requires funding, so the mining must work, and Angra 3 is required to provide enough demand to the whole cycle.

Brazil currently exports low enriched uranium to Argentina. Argentina is well-developed in producing research reactors and is helping Brazil in the design phase of Brazil’s multipurpose reactor. Argentina exports its research reactor knowledge to other countries as well. Both Argentina and Brazil do a lot of trade, but also has a lot of cooperation in the nuclear industry. Brazil has The Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), a bilateral safety regime under the IAEA. Brazilian technicians go do inspections in Argentinian nuclear facilities and provide oversight of its nuclear facilities, and Argentina does the same of Brazil. These two countries were economic and military rivals in the past, but the process of regaining democracy in both places was an accommodation of this rivalry. There was an agreement between the two regimes that nuclear would be developed for peaceful purposes only, with joint oversight. This was a fundamental plank on which democracy could consolidate.

Applications of Small Modular Reactors (14:50)
14:50-21:16 (Marcel shares the current state of Brazil’s Naval nuclear propulsion system and how new nuclear technology can provide base load power across the country)

Q: Do the relationships and infrastructure that come with the spread of nuclear power discourage nuclear weapons?
A: Brazil is developing a nuclear Navy propulsion system. Some people see this as a proliferation risk, but Marcel Biato sees this nuclear energy technology for global governance. The U.S., as a global power, provides global maritime trade protection. The global good Brazil can offer with this nuclear propulsion technology combats privacy, provides support, safe travel, research of the sea bed, and other applications. Nuclear industry needs to be developed in Brazil so it can continue to be constructive. This technology started with the Navy, but can branch out and spin off into other possibilities. The Brazilian Navy is developing a small modular reactor as a nuclear propulsion drive system. Brazil as a country has continental dimensions in which significant parts of the country are sparsely populated. This makes it very expensive to provide energy.

Russia has a similar problem, so it started exploring oil in Siberia. It is too far to build gas pipelines, so they are putting floating nuclear plants in the area, using nuclear energy to extract oil. One advantage of this model, from Brazil’s point of view, is that it would provide sustainable energy in remote areas without long transmission lines. Brazil also, in a way, follows the German model of pursuing alternative fuels like solar and wind. This has created an integrated, continental-sized grid and in certain parts of Brazil with lots of wind have created modules around wind generation. However, wind generation is not base load; it is intermittent and fluctuations have been noticed in the grid. These sources currently make up around 15% of the country’s energy and are concentrated in certain areas, which has become a problem. These sources can be combined with nuclear to provide base load and intermittent renewable power. Because of the innate advantages and flexibility of small modular reactors, they are able to ramp up and down to accommodate fluctuations in other sources. In the short term, a triad of these energy sources of energy could provide generating capacity in an integrated platform.

Future of Nuclear Energy in Brazil (21:16)
21:16-31:48 (Why small modular reactors are attractive to Brazil and how the country is focusing on making the technology accessible)

Q: I heard the other day Brazil is at 2-3% nuclear power right now with plans to double. Why not make it ten times as much since it is that base load power? A stable grid normally has 40, 50, 60% of its power as base load power.
A: Politicians must be prudent when planning the future of the electrical grid. Solar and wind energy can be combined with nuclear to provide base load and intermittent renewable power. Because of the innate advantages and flexibility of small modular reactors, they are able to ramp up and down to accommodate fluctuations in other sources. In the short term, a triad of these energy sources of energy could provide generating capacity in an integrated platform. Ultimately, an electrical grid has to be transitioned and go through processes. The plan must be sold to a varied audience. If Brazil can aim for 6% in the next ten, fifteen, or twenty years, that will be very good. Small modular reactors will eventually come off a conveyor belt and be small, industry-made products. This will reduce the problem of decommissioning, capital will be smaller, and risks will be smaller, similar to the trends seen when wind and solar energy generation went to a manufactured model.

Going back to the 17th century, knowledge became science, but there was a fragmentation of knowledge which turned into individual sciences, including the hard sciences and soft sciences. What’s happening now is the reverse, a process of recrystallization or reunification of all knowledge because everything is nuclear in origin. Scientific knowledge today brings one back to the nuclear atomic energy of everything that is. In a way, we are shrinking back to the essential of nuclear science.

Marcel Biato believes that people are pragmatic and, when results are there, people will reluctantly give up their prejudices and preconceptions. Nuclear energy is moving at a significant rate and new applications of nuclear energy are inevitable. The challenge today, in a country like Brazil, is to make sure the nuclear applications are available to so many people. It is unacceptable that, today in Brazil, only 20% of the population has access to nuclear medicine, because it is expensive and people don’t know about it. A conversion process of nuclear applications becoming more widely available allows people to gain a broader understanding of what nuclear actually is and the wider implications. Also, kids need to be educated about nuclear energy. Children learn values early in life and the fear of nuclear can be overcome by starting at young ages. There is a whole other range of issues that have to do with disarmament and safeguards. Globally, there has not been any progress in terms of multilateral cooperation regarding safety and defense. The only significant international agreement promoting global peace and stability in the nuclear field is the JCPA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), or the Iran Deal, which is now in a challenging state. While peaceful uses for nuclear must be at the forefront of the agenda, the need for disarmament is so important.

Becoming the Undersecretariat of Nuclear Energy (0:26)
0:26-5:11 (Bianca explains how she entered the nuclear industry.)

Q. Tell me your story.
A. This is Bianca’s first time at an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference. She was born in Argentina and is an international relations graduate. She focused her graduate thesis on foreign direct investment into Argentina. During her research, she discovered the Hualong One reactor import from China. At the time, Bianca did not know how a nuclear reactor worked but knew she wanted to study the import. Bianca reached out to one of her professors, who turned out to be the Deputy Secretary of Nuclear Energy. Three months later, she became the Undersecretariat of Nuclear Energy as his advisor.

Bridging a divided sector (5:12)
5:12-14:39 (Bianca discusses some of the challenges she has faced when entering nuclear, paying particular attention to the division between the three areas of the sector.)

Q. What was some of the pushback that you got?
A. Bianca says it was not easy to join the sector as a young woman. Bianca spent much of her first few weeks studying the sector. She was also afraid because she was not meeting women or other young people in the sector at first.

Bianca also notes how the sector is divided into three areas that are not always interconnected. The first area includes research and development activity, much of which often takes place in an academic setting. The second area is industry. Argentia has more than 60 years of nuclear history and the sector is constantly expanding. The third path is politics and diplomacy. She foresees these will become more interconnected with the next generation and is working towards this personally. She sees an importance for people from each of the three tracts to attend workshops together because learning from each other is enriching. Designers should be thinking about future systems with policy in mind. Policy makers need to know what new developments are being worked on. Industry workers must speak with policy writers to share the types of things that harm industry growth. Work is being done to connect the three areas. The Undersecretariat of Nuclear Energy was created in Argentina four years ago to help coordinate the sector by maintaining a big picture viewpoint. Bianca thinks there should be more initiatives and channels in place to foster communication between the three areas, rather than only relying on the organizing body.

Argentina’s nuclear sector (14:40)
14:40-19:38 (Bianca describes Argentina’s nuclear sector)

Q. What does the Argentina nuclear sector look like today?
A. INVAP, an Argentine company, exports research reactors around the globe. In addition, the country has two power plants in Buenos Aires and one in Córdoba province. The Córdoba province reactor has had its life extended for an additional 30 years. The Buenos Aires reactors are Siemens’ pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWRs). Argentina has plans to build more reactors, including plans to collaborate with China to build a pressurized water reactor (PWR) and a light-water reactor. The National Atomic Energy Commission is also building a small modular reactor (SMR) prototype to produce 32 megawatts in Argentina. This project will potentially produce commercial SMRs for Argentina, which they intend to export. Argentina plans to produce 11 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. Much of the rest of the power is supplied through fossil fuels and renewables. The big challenge is replacing fossil fuels entirely with nuclear power.

Energy demands and SMRs (19:39)
19:39-26:31 (Bianca speaks about the energy demands that place pressure on the industry to reduce cost and time of construction. She discusses how SMRs can answer this demand, addressing both continued prosperity and climate change.)

Q. What is changing in the electricity sector?
A. The demands are shifting to put pressure on cost and construction time. The CAREM SMR has this advantage due to their flexibility and the ability for serial production. Bianca paraphrases an MIT professor who describes nuclear reactors as having a gem and a box. The gem, or the core of the reactor, will always cost the same. The box, which is currently associated with high cost and long construction periods, can change. SMRs reduce the box, making them cheap and small. The other potential change to the industry is fusion. While Argentina is not working on a fusion reactor, Bianca believes the new generation can take on this challenge.

Energy demand is growing everywhere and the trend is to electrify. Energy is needed for prosperity because energy generates jobs. Using dirty fuel does not affect nations on an individual scale, but on a global scale. Bianca calls for the need to think about energy demand and supply on a global scale as well as the points of interaction between demand and supply.

Bianca’s global future (26:32)
26:32-27:57 (Bianca discusses what is next for her in the sector, including her goal of creating a youth network and taking on a more global role.)

Q. What is next for you?
A. Bianca wants to stay in the nuclear sector. She is creating a powerful youth network to continue the dialogue between the three areas of the sector. Looking towards the future, she foresees herself taking on a global role.

Growing up in Soviet Estonia Taught Kalev Social Responsibility
Q: What’s your background? I know you were in parliament at some point, you’re Estonian, but where did your initial interests begin?

A: Kalev Kallemets grew up in Estonia in a family who valued social responsibility. His father was the manager of a Soviet agriculture production unit and Kalev witnessed firsthand how ineffective Soviet thinking was. He developed a sense of social responsibility for people and his nation, believing that those who have the ability to learn new technologies and discover new solutions should deploy them.

Kalev is proud of Estonia’s current start-up culture. He uses Estonia’s electronic personal identification system as an example of the country’s daring, sharing how he registered his son’s name in just 30 minutes and signed him up for kindergarten instantly.
Kalev Shifts from Economics to Politics (4:32)
Q: How did you get involved in politics?

A: Kalev’s interest in politics started in high school after reading Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom. He started studying economics at the university level, even spending some time at the Mises Institute in Alabama and translating some books by the austro-british economist Friedrich Hayek. Those studies, and his involvement in the Estonial Reform Party’s Youth Council, eventually made him a prime candidate for a seat in Estonian parliament sitting on the economics committee. In that role, he voted to legalize same sex partnerships in Estonia, a close vote that he is proud of. Kalev also discusses the growing trend of fear or rejection of others in democratic countries today.
Kalev Realizes the Economic Potential of Nuclear Energy (8:18)
Q: You became interested in energy at some point. How?

A: Kalev did his academic thesis on government-owned utilities in Estonia. In 2008, this mainly concerned an agreement by the prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to explore a nuclear new build project in Lithuania to replace the RBMK reactors in Ignalina, Lithuania that the European Commission had recently deemed unsafe.

Kalev investigated how nuclear energy makes economic sense and found that it made perfect sense. The old reactors operating in Western Europe were fundamentally money making machines. He developed a good relationship with Sandor Liive, who later became the co-founder of Kalev’s start-up Fermi Energia.

Kalev began promoting the idea of a nuclear power renaissance and was fairly well accepted by the public, but some political in-fighting in Lithuania, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and some expensive nuclear new builds elsewhere in Europe caused Eesti Energia to decide to invest in a new oil shale furnace instead. Kalev says it is now obvious, with rising CO2 prices in Europe, that this solution is uneconomical.

In 2009, Kalev took a nuclear economics course in Munich that inspired him to enroll in PhD studies in energy economics, specifically oil shale economics. Last year, 85% of the power generation in Estonia was from oil shale.
The Changing Landscape of Nuclear Infrastructure in the Baltics and Beyond (11:27)
Q: What is the relationship of the baltic countries from an infrastructure perspective?

A: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are currently inseparable and currently connected to Northwestern Russian and Belarussian power grid systems. By December 31, 2025, these three countries will be desynchronized from those systems and connected to the continential European power grid system.

Because these countries share a common infrastructure, they also share a common energy market. Kalev explains that while there are separate pricing areas, the prices across all Baltic markets have been very similar. With more interconnections being built between each of the countries, this trend will continue.

Estonia also has physical cables connecting to Finland, more than 100 megawatts, but the connections are insufficient to cover the full energy consumption of the country. Kalev also shares that, despite the appearance of support for nuclear power, Finland is actually in power deficit until even as far out as 2040 because they will completely phase out coal like many other Western European countries.

There is currently a binding target of 80% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 in Europe and a likelihood that the EU will target complete climate neutrality from all sources, meaning absolutely no net emissions from any source even beyond the electricity sector.
The Real Estate Developer of Nuclear Energy (16:21)
Q: Okay, so you’ve got academic experience, political experience, industry experience and now, start up experience. How did Fermi Energia come together? (16:21)

A new nuclear new build project was discussed last summer. Sandor Liive, Kalev’s co-founder at Fermi Energia, sent 4 people to study nuclear energy in Stockholm and work in utilities in Scandinavia. Together, they discussed NGOs and promoting nuclear power, but realized that the real need was for megawatts, not policy.

They asked themselves if it would be possible to develop a business for the deployment of SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) like they are licensed in the United States and Canada. There is a false assumption that nuclear power has to mean billions of euros in investment. Kalev likens his work at Fermi Energia to real estate investment, highly intellectually challenging and risky but inexpensive in its early stages.

He discusses his team of 6 founders, 4 PhDs, a former CEO of an Estonian utility company, and a groundbreaking physicist. The team realized the need for a clear and formal feasibility study, not for economicals purposes but for governmental policy ones. The feasibility study will be presented on January 28, 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia.
Converging Factors Convince Future Stakeholders (24:09)
Q: It’s almost as if you’ve discovered that there is a pent-up demand for this and you are about to unlock Pandora’s box of new opportunity.

A few cooperating factors that have supported nuclear power as a solution to Estonia’s future power problems. A) CO2 prices have gone from 15 to 27, meaning power generation from oil shale has decreased by 50% in the past year, B) 900 people will be unemployed in the oil shale industry out of 6000, raising awareness for a new source of power and C) increased awareness around climate change.

Kalev explains that these factors have even influenced environmentalists in Estonia, once vehemently opposed to nuclear power, to rethink their position. He rejects the use of social media and public forums to have rational discussions about nuclear power, instead preferring to share data one-on-one.

Bret and Kalev discuss the importance of speaking to societal values at large, in particular those necessary for successful industry. For example, nuclear power in Finland was supported by Finnish companies and municipalities in order to mitigate the risk of a loss of power. Kalev explains that this public ownership structure for nuclear new builds in Finland may have also reduced the likelihood of backlash and mistrust. Kalev views it as his job to bring together a similar coalition of stakeholders for a nuclear new build in Estonia.
Energy Blackouts in the European Union (33:12)
Q: Do you think there will be a reckoning in Europe over how nuclear power is being perceived?

Yes. There are coal phase outs happening in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, Belgium and France at the same time many nuclear power is shutting down.

The EU is currently gathering national climate and energy plans. Many of the plans promise to develop interconnections to secure energy supplies, but it’s necessary to have capacity behind those interconnections. It’s mathematically impossible for Norway and Sweden to supply all of Europe. Kalev sees it as “highly likely, extremely likely, 100% likely” that there will be blackouts in the European Union.
Europe’s Need for Molten Salt Reactors (35:37)
Q: What have you learned that has made you think differently about your approach?

Fermi Energy started with a keen interest in molten salt reactors but molten salt reactors are more complicated with their physics and thermo-economical management than current light water reactor systems. Kalev still believes that the development of molten salt reactors is imperative for the future and encourages governments like Canada and the United States to continue their support of molten salt reactor R&D, licensing and testing programs. Kalev highlights the 40-billion euro market for hydrogen, citing that it has to be all replaced by 2050 with non-fossil energy and arguing that light water reactors aren’t as fit for that need.
The Future of Capital-Driven SMR Deployment (39:32)
Q: Could you spell out for us your vision for the future and why this is important to you?

Kalev claims that Europe will need hundreds of SMRs being deployed, but that he’ll start moderately with just the two units planned in Estonia.

His innovative business model provides a service to government-owned utility companies, reducing both the site and political risks of nuclear SMR deployment. Kalev discusses his vision for the future, pioneering a business model innovation for hundreds of other companies. He wants Europe, his home, to be successful and believes SMR technology has the potential to embrace private capital driven energy deployment, rather than murky fossil fuel deals that have to be done by politicians or utilities that have to be controlled by government owned companies. Kalev believes that capitalism is the way forward.