Three paths, one archive

Each path is an ordered sequence of concepts. Earlier modules are prerequisites for later ones — follow them in order and nothing will feel like it came from nowhere.

Want something lighter and more exploratory? Try the Guided FAQ web — the same material as a trail of interlinked questions you can follow in any direction.

The Curious Layperson

Zero background. Leave genuinely literate.

Start path →

You've heard nuclear is clean / dangerous / expensive and want to actually understand it.

  1. 1 What nuclear fission is
  2. 2 Energy density: why a little fuel goes a long way
  3. 3 How a power reactor works end-to-end
  4. 4 Radiation, dose, and units
  5. 5 How reactor safety is actually engineered
  6. 6 Chernobyl: what happened and what the toll was
  7. 7 Fukushima Daiichi: tsunami, meltdowns, and the radiation question
  8. 8 Used fuel and 'nuclear waste'
  9. 9 Low-dose radiation: LNT vs. hormesis
  10. 10 Nuclear vs. wind, solar, and gas on the grid
  11. 11 Nuclear and climate change
  12. 12 Fusion: the other nuclear

Policy & Investor

Follow the money and the rules.

Start path →

You make or influence decisions and need the economics, regulation, and risk landscape.

  1. 1 Energy density: why a little fuel goes a long way
  2. 2 How a power reactor works end-to-end
  3. 3 Why nuclear costs what it costs
  4. 4 Vogtle & the AP1000: a real-world cost case study
  5. 5 Small modular reactors (SMRs)
  6. 6 Nuclear vs. wind, solar, and gas on the grid
  7. 7 Nuclear and climate change
  8. 8 The NRC and how nuclear is regulated
  9. 9 Used fuel and 'nuclear waste'
  10. 10 Used fuel and weapons proliferation
  11. 11 The antinuclear movement and fossil-fuel interests
  12. 12 Firm power and grid integration

Technical Deep-Dive

How the machines actually work.

Start path →

You have STEM comfort and want reactor physics, designs, and the fuel cycle in depth.

  1. 1 What nuclear fission is
  2. 2 Energy density: why a little fuel goes a long way
  3. 3 How a power reactor works end-to-end
  4. 4 Light-water reactors (PWR & BWR)
  5. 5 How reactor safety is actually engineered
  6. 6 The nuclear fuel cycle
  7. 7 Molten-salt reactors & the thorium/LFTR concept
  8. 8 Small modular reactors (SMRs)
  9. 9 Microreactors & military reactors
  10. 10 Used fuel and weapons proliferation
  11. 11 Rickover and the naval reactors model
  12. 12 Low-dose radiation: LNT vs. hormesis
  13. 13 Where advanced reactors actually stand