Hello, SFIA audio listeners. In this month's Nebula exclusive, big alien theory,

we're asking the reason alien civilizations might be rare is because most aliens are huge.

To hear it and every episode early and ad-free, plus hours of bonus content,

check out go.nebola.tv slash Isaac Arthur and use my code, Isaac Arthur.

In a time when humanity faces an ever-growing

need for energy, and higher and unstable prices for that energy, nuclear power would seem ideal,

but the planets are often enormous and take forever to build. Small modular reactors

able to be assembled quickly and fill smaller demands, may be the answer

to the problem.

So today we'll be looking at the small modular reactor SMR concept of nuclear fission,

and how they potentially offer cheaper and safer nuclear power, and how they might serve

as a better alternative to classic nuclear power plants.

This means we'll

be digging a bit into both the nuts and bolts of how the reactor designs work, there are many,

and how the logistics, economics, and regulatory issues factor in. We will also go through

an in-depth explanation of how nuclear power in general works before getting to SMRs. If you know the difference between

alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation, what RTG stands for, what a breeder reactor is,

and what a moderator is, and can name a few in their pros and cons, feel free to skip ahead.

If, on the other hand, you've heard those terms a lot, but never really got a good

intuitive explanation, because virtually every video on nuclear power is either a three-minute

video with few details, or a long one that assumes you already know all of that, then grab a

drink and a snack. This episode continues our discussion of emerging energy technologies, where

...