Deep Dive Season 1: Nuclear Energy | Episode 5 - "The Math Doesn't Work Without Nuclear" | Nuclear Supply Chain Leader Tighe Smith on the Evolving Market, Factory Style Manufacturing, & Fuel Supply

Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention:

1. Commonality is the Way - Variance in design increases cost. Consistency in design reduces it. Tighe shared helpful parallels with other industries to highlight the point that the industry is beginning to benefit from some economies of repetition, and this pattern is increasing the speed and cost efficiencies afforded.

2. The fusion funding paradox - Tighe pointed out fusion attracts outsized investment compared to fission, yet has never demonstrated ability to build actual power plants. Hmm.

3. Forever chemicals vs. manageable radiation - Tighe's contrast between undetectable forever chemicals and easily detected radiation with definite half-lives challenged my thinking about which environmental threats deserve more concern.

I explore these ideas and more with Tighe Smith, Chief Nuclear Officer at Paragon Energy Solutions.

Tighe Smith brings over two decades of specialized experience as a nuclear engineer and executive leader in the nuclear power industry. As Chief Nuclear Officer at Paragon Energy Solutions, he leads the Digital I&C and Advanced Reactor Business Divisions, developing solutions for both existing and next-generation reactors. His unique perspective bridges technical engineering excellence with strategic business insight, reinforced by his active roles in the American Nuclear Society's Nuclear Policy Leadership team and as Sub-Committee Chair for the Texas Advanced Nuclear Working Group.

During our conversation, Tighe shares:

• A contrarian perspective on the nuclear supply chain as an overlooked investment opportunity - highlighting the ecosystem of component and service providers between giant utilities and reactor startups.

• Why factory-built standardization represents a paradigm shift for nuclear economics - drawing compelling parallels to aircraft manufacturing that illustrate how nuclear can achieve the speed advantages of natural gas plants.

• A pragmatic comparison of nuclear and fusion timelines for climate impact that challenges the disproportionate investment flowing to fusion despite its longer horizon for commercial viability.

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What We Cover:

• 00:00 Introduction

• 02:40 Nuclear Energy Ecosystem

• 03:15 The First Renaissance of Nuclear

• 04:16 Decarbonizing the Future

• 04:51 Nuclear's Role in a Zero Carbon Economy

• 06:48 Challenges and Opportunities in Nuclear

• 16:06 Public Misconceptions about Nuclear

• 21:24 Investing in Nuclear Innovation

• 27:22 Acquisitions and Scaling in Nuclear

• 30:08 Opportunities for Investors

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Connect with Tighe

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tighe-smith-70007b6/

Connect with Andrew

• Newsletter: https://thediligentobserver.substack.com

• X: https://twitter.com/AKazlow

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkazlow/

• Book: https://angelops.pitchfact.com/

• Website: https://pitchfact.com/

Stuff We Reference

• Rod Adams: https://thediligentobserver.substack.com/p/deep-dive-episode-1-scale-through

• Paragon Energy Solutions: https://paragones.com/

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): https://www.iaea.org/

• Energy Information Administration (EIA): https://www.eia.gov/

• Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/

• Google: https://www.google.com/

• Meta: https://www.facebook.com/

• NuScale Power: https://www.nuscalepower.com/

• X-Energy: https://x-energy.com/

• Kairos Power: https://kairospower.com/

• TerraPower: https://www.terrapower.com/

• Westinghouse: https://westinghouse.com/

• GE Hitachi: https://www.gevernova.com/nuclear

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): https://www.nrc.gov/

• AZZ Inc.: https://www.azz.com/

• American Nuclear Society (ANS): https://www.ans.org/

• Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI): https://www.nei.org/

• Three Mile Island Accident: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html

• Fukushima Daiichi Accident: https://www.iaea.org/topics/response/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-accident

• ADAMS Database: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html

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All opinions expressed are personal and may not reflect the views of the individual’s organization or of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.