Nick Touran
@whatisnuclear.com
Ph.D./P.E. nuclear engineer and nuclear educator who runs https://whatisnuclear.com. Thinks about how to deliver nuclear power reliably and cheaply, advanced reactors, reactor history, energy.
Serious question to people who are protesting data centers: how would you feel if they were operated offshore?
⚛️Powered with sustainable nuclear
⛲Cooled with abundant seawater
🏠Not in anyone's backyard
🧑🔧Built in shipyards reindustrializing America
🇺🇸 Allows us to stay competitive internationally
⚛️Powered with sustainable nuclear
⛲Cooled with abundant seawater
🏠Not in anyone's backyard
🧑🔧Built in shipyards reindustrializing America
🇺🇸 Allows us to stay competitive internationally
August 9, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Serious question to people who are protesting data centers: how would you feel if they were operated offshore?
⚛️Powered with sustainable nuclear
⛲Cooled with abundant seawater
🏠Not in anyone's backyard
🧑🔧Built in shipyards reindustrializing America
🇺🇸 Allows us to stay competitive internationally
⚛️Powered with sustainable nuclear
⛲Cooled with abundant seawater
🏠Not in anyone's backyard
🧑🔧Built in shipyards reindustrializing America
🇺🇸 Allows us to stay competitive internationally
Great film: Research Reactors U.S.A (1958)
Fun to see the University of Michigan Ford Nuclear Reactor in some detail at the beginning.
Thanks to the IAEA for digitizing and DOE for letting me publish it.
youtu.be/3BJyBohKeD4?...
Fun to see the University of Michigan Ford Nuclear Reactor in some detail at the beginning.
Thanks to the IAEA for digitizing and DOE for letting me publish it.
youtu.be/3BJyBohKeD4?...
Research Reactors U.S.A. (1958)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
youtu.be
July 24, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Great film: Research Reactors U.S.A (1958)
Fun to see the University of Michigan Ford Nuclear Reactor in some detail at the beginning.
Thanks to the IAEA for digitizing and DOE for letting me publish it.
youtu.be/3BJyBohKeD4?...
Fun to see the University of Michigan Ford Nuclear Reactor in some detail at the beginning.
Thanks to the IAEA for digitizing and DOE for letting me publish it.
youtu.be/3BJyBohKeD4?...
What does "going critical" mean? If you shoot a neutron into some uranium ore, some atoms will split by fission, but you haven't made a nuclear reactor. Too many secondary neutrons leak out or get absorbed without splitting neighboring atoms. 1/n
May 29, 2026 at 11:37 AM
What does "going critical" mean? If you shoot a neutron into some uranium ore, some atoms will split by fission, but you haven't made a nuclear reactor. Too many secondary neutrons leak out or get absorbed without splitting neighboring atoms. 1/n
The Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) was constructed in 1957 at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. It was a 175 MWt reactor that absolutely hammered fuels and materials with high flux neutrons, fine-tuning the high-performance nuclear technology we use today www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_b3...
Engineering Test Reactor (1958)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
May 27, 2026 at 3:43 PM
The Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) was constructed in 1957 at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. It was a 175 MWt reactor that absolutely hammered fuels and materials with high flux neutrons, fine-tuning the high-performance nuclear technology we use today www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_b3...
This Combustion Engineering facility in Chattanooga, TN fabricated 57 reactor pressure vessels for US reactors, plus more overseas, and lots of other heavy equipment. As the nuclear industry ramps back up in the US, I hope we see lots more facilities like this soon.
May 20, 2026 at 1:32 AM
This Combustion Engineering facility in Chattanooga, TN fabricated 57 reactor pressure vessels for US reactors, plus more overseas, and lots of other heavy equipment. As the nuclear industry ramps back up in the US, I hope we see lots more facilities like this soon.
If you pull a vacuum on wood, then impregnate it with a monomer, and then irradiate it with gamma rays, you get a wood-plastic composite that is extremely tough while looking great. If it gets scuffed, you just buff it out, the finish goes all the way through. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9sQ...
Atomic Revolution in Wood (1969)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
May 16, 2026 at 11:47 PM
If you pull a vacuum on wood, then impregnate it with a monomer, and then irradiate it with gamma rays, you get a wood-plastic composite that is extremely tough while looking great. If it gets scuffed, you just buff it out, the finish goes all the way through. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9sQ...
Industrial Applications of Nuclear Explosives (1958)
That's one way to make a new harbor!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9e...
That's one way to make a new harbor!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9e...
Industrial Applications of Nuclear Explosives (1958)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
May 2, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Industrial Applications of Nuclear Explosives (1958)
That's one way to make a new harbor!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9e...
That's one way to make a new harbor!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9e...
Those new studies linking nuclear plant proximity to cancer use very weak scientific methods. No dose assessment, no control group. It's shameful that they passed peer review. Takedown here: www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/two-new-pa...
Two New Papers Are Wrong About Cancer Risk from Nuclear Plants
Poor Research Design and Strong Claims Don’t Mesh Well
www.breakthroughjournal.org
March 2, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Those new studies linking nuclear plant proximity to cancer use very weak scientific methods. No dose assessment, no control group. It's shameful that they passed peer review. Takedown here: www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/two-new-pa...
Visiting the Nuclear Ship Savannah in person is worth traveling to Baltimore for, especially since they recently opened up the reactor vessel. Saturday, February 21st. www.ans.org/news/2026-02... @americannuclear.bsky.social
NS Savannah soon open to the public
www.ans.org
February 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Visiting the Nuclear Ship Savannah in person is worth traveling to Baltimore for, especially since they recently opened up the reactor vessel. Saturday, February 21st. www.ans.org/news/2026-02... @americannuclear.bsky.social
This has to be the fastest way to add 10 GW of new nuclear capacity in the US (uprating existing reactors!) www.wsj.com/business/ene...?
Exclusive | A Nuclear-Power Startup Says It Can Rouse the Slow-Moving Industry
Alva Energy has the support of former Intel chief Pat Gelsinger, whose venture firm led its recent $33 million fundraising round.
www.wsj.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:04 PM
This has to be the fastest way to add 10 GW of new nuclear capacity in the US (uprating existing reactors!) www.wsj.com/business/ene...?
Reposted by Nick Touran
ICYMI: @whatisnuclear.com digitized this 1967 film about the BONUS reactor, in Puerto Rico. Superheated steam from a boiling water reactor!
whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-09...
whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-09...
February 9, 2026 at 3:37 AM
ICYMI: @whatisnuclear.com digitized this 1967 film about the BONUS reactor, in Puerto Rico. Superheated steam from a boiling water reactor!
whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-09...
whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-09...
Reposted by Nick Touran
Have you ever wondered if small nuclear reactors could possibly beat out the economies of scale from large reactors? Check out my latest report @theniaorg.bsky.social “Right-Sizing Reactors: Balancing trade-offs between economies of scale and volume” tinyurl.com/bdhz27wt
January 30, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Have you ever wondered if small nuclear reactors could possibly beat out the economies of scale from large reactors? Check out my latest report @theniaorg.bsky.social “Right-Sizing Reactors: Balancing trade-offs between economies of scale and volume” tinyurl.com/bdhz27wt
The classic mouse trap and ping pong ball demo, from Martin Marietta.
Only problem is that the mouse traps flying around set off other mouse traps, dramatically increasing keff. They should have glued them to the bottom.
(VHS quality because, well, it was on VHS)
Only problem is that the mouse traps flying around set off other mouse traps, dramatically increasing keff. They should have glued them to the bottom.
(VHS quality because, well, it was on VHS)
January 27, 2026 at 2:11 AM
The classic mouse trap and ping pong ball demo, from Martin Marietta.
Only problem is that the mouse traps flying around set off other mouse traps, dramatically increasing keff. They should have glued them to the bottom.
(VHS quality because, well, it was on VHS)
Only problem is that the mouse traps flying around set off other mouse traps, dramatically increasing keff. They should have glued them to the bottom.
(VHS quality because, well, it was on VHS)
I made a new 'microreactors' page.
Benefits:
1. Novel power markets
2. Manufactured product
3. Within reach of VC
4. Fewer radionuclides
Challenges:
1. Economies of scale
2. Tyranny of neutron diffusion
3. Shielding
whatisnuclear.com/microreactor...
Benefits:
1. Novel power markets
2. Manufactured product
3. Within reach of VC
4. Fewer radionuclides
Challenges:
1. Economies of scale
2. Tyranny of neutron diffusion
3. Shielding
whatisnuclear.com/microreactor...
What are Microreactors?
Definition, history, opportunities, and challenges of micro nuclear reactors
whatisnuclear.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I made a new 'microreactors' page.
Benefits:
1. Novel power markets
2. Manufactured product
3. Within reach of VC
4. Fewer radionuclides
Challenges:
1. Economies of scale
2. Tyranny of neutron diffusion
3. Shielding
whatisnuclear.com/microreactor...
Benefits:
1. Novel power markets
2. Manufactured product
3. Within reach of VC
4. Fewer radionuclides
Challenges:
1. Economies of scale
2. Tyranny of neutron diffusion
3. Shielding
whatisnuclear.com/microreactor...
Presenting: A 1980s film describing uranium enrichment using gaseous diffusion. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gN...
The Enrichment of Uranium (1980s)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Presenting: A 1980s film describing uranium enrichment using gaseous diffusion. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gN...
🍿⚛️ Today we have: "Managing Radioactive Waste At the Nevada Test Site", a 1980 film from DOE, freshly scanned off of U-matic video cassette kindly provided to me by Prof. Ron Knief. www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Jd...
Managing Radioactive Wastes At The Nevada Test Site (1980)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:50 AM
🍿⚛️ Today we have: "Managing Radioactive Waste At the Nevada Test Site", a 1980 film from DOE, freshly scanned off of U-matic video cassette kindly provided to me by Prof. Ron Knief. www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Jd...
Check out the state of nuclear fusion research as it stood in 1988 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuss...
Sun of Man (1988)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Check out the state of nuclear fusion research as it stood in 1988 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuss...
It's not that advanced reactors aren't and can never be economical (that's crazy), but they haven't been economical so far (for very specific reasons) and have a steep hill to climb to achieve viability. As always, the only way to climb it is to build build build. www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JL...
Inside America’s $3T Nuclear Bet (HALEU)
YouTube video by AtomicBlender
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:28 PM
It's not that advanced reactors aren't and can never be economical (that's crazy), but they haven't been economical so far (for very specific reasons) and have a steep hill to climb to achieve viability. As always, the only way to climb it is to build build build. www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JL...
Those were the highlights. Here's the full 12-mins in documentary form www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVq...
January 18, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Those were the highlights. Here's the full 12-mins in documentary form www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVq...
Nuclear waste transport cask testing... with Red Alert music
January 17, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Nuclear waste transport cask testing... with Red Alert music
Splitting Atoms – An Electrifying Experience (1996)
YouTube video by What is Nuclear?
youtu.be
January 16, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Flash animations from the 2006 version of whatisnuclear dot com, made by yours truly.
"This is what they stole from us" 😂
"This is what they stole from us" 😂
January 12, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Flash animations from the 2006 version of whatisnuclear dot com, made by yours truly.
"This is what they stole from us" 😂
"This is what they stole from us" 😂
Reposted by Nick Touran
Neat site that explains the value of clean firm resources like nuclear, hydro, and geothermal in a highly decarbonized grid
nathandiyer.github.io/clean-energy...
nathandiyer.github.io/clean-energy...
January 8, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Neat site that explains the value of clean firm resources like nuclear, hydro, and geothermal in a highly decarbonized grid
nathandiyer.github.io/clean-energy...
nathandiyer.github.io/clean-energy...
The Beetle, everyone's favorite actually-real mecha, inside and out. It was designed to do maintenance in the highly radioactive areas around nuclear-powered long-range bomber aircraft back in the nuclear-powered flight days.
January 7, 2026 at 6:59 PM
The Beetle, everyone's favorite actually-real mecha, inside and out. It was designed to do maintenance in the highly radioactive areas around nuclear-powered long-range bomber aircraft back in the nuclear-powered flight days.
I'm currently getting these historical nuclear films digitized. Standby!
As far as I can tell, none of them exist online yet except the Accident Testing one, which shows the Sandia cask tests. I'm getting that one scanned with hopes that it'll be extra high quality for everyone's pleasure.
As far as I can tell, none of them exist online yet except the Accident Testing one, which shows the Sandia cask tests. I'm getting that one scanned with hopes that it'll be extra high quality for everyone's pleasure.
January 7, 2026 at 2:09 AM
I'm currently getting these historical nuclear films digitized. Standby!
As far as I can tell, none of them exist online yet except the Accident Testing one, which shows the Sandia cask tests. I'm getting that one scanned with hopes that it'll be extra high quality for everyone's pleasure.
As far as I can tell, none of them exist online yet except the Accident Testing one, which shows the Sandia cask tests. I'm getting that one scanned with hopes that it'll be extra high quality for everyone's pleasure.