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The Case for Separating Fission from Electricity Production - Austin Vernon's Blog

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Nuclear power could level up by producing high value products. Thanks to Casey Handmer for sparking some of these topics. The current paradigm for nuclear energy is to harvest low-quality heat to produce steam. Neutrons, other radiation particles, and radioactive isotopes are byproducts that make the heat more expensive to collect. But what if improving technology like photovoltaic panels or AI-powered robots flipped the paradigm? Could it make sense to produce energy-releasing isotopes that generate electricity when paired with semiconductors while wasting low-quality heat? Could these devices power things like flying cars? What if all the nuclear reactors could be in designated places like Idaho National Lab or former fusion bomb test sites? Do the potential costs make any sense? Can we produce enough isotopes? We use radioisotopes for PET scans, cancer treatments, sterilizing equipment and food, inspecting welds, evaluating oil and gas reservoirs, household smoke detectors, etc. The

The Case for Separating Fission from Electricity Production - Austin Vernon's Blog The Case for Separating Fission from Electricity Production 2023 April 6 Twitter Substack See all posts Nuclear power could level up by producing high value products. Thanks to Casey Handmer for sparking some of these topics. The Vision The current paradigm for nuclear energy is to harvest low-quality heat to produce steam. Neutrons, other radiation particles, and radioactive isotopes are byproducts that make the heat more expensive to collect. But what if improving technology like photovoltaic panels or AI-powe

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