
Everything You Need To Know About The Nuclear Energy Boom - EP 70 James Krellenstein
From Core Memory by Ashlee Vance
May 6, 2026 · 2h 35m · Episode 70
About this episode
The episode discusses the current nuclear energy boom, featuring insights from expert James Krellenstein on the industry's past and future.
We’re in the midst of a new nuclear energy boom. Start-ups – both fusion and fission – abound, and the U.S. government has cleared the way to build again. Meanwhile, China is racing ahead with nuclear plans that dwarf those of the rest of the world combined. As with any boom cycle, there is a lot of hype and a lot to understand if you want to get a handle on what’s real and what’s not. And so, we brought James Krellenstein onto the podcast. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Alva Energy and he’s sort of frightening in how much he knows about the nuclear industry. Like, really. You’ll see. This episode runs long because we wanted to use it as a chance to go through the past few decades of history and really explain why the U.S. nuclear industry slowed and how the U.S. might fix the situation. We also wanted to explain how all these new technologies work and, of course, explore where China is heading. Krellenstein is something of a contrarian and thinks many of the U.S. nuclear start-ups are misguided in their approach. He’s also incredible to listen to. You will enjoy this one. I think it’s one of the best episodes we’ve ever done. The Core Memory podcast is on all major platforms and…
People in this episode
Host: Ashlee Vance
Guest: James Krellenstein
Topics covered
- nuclear energy
- fusion
- fission
- U.S. government
- China nuclear plans
- nuclear industry history
- start-ups
Keywords
- nuclear energy
- fusion
- fission
- U.S. nuclear industry
- China nuclear plans
- start-ups
- Alva Energy
Sponsors
Brex
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Alva Energy
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