Building a nuclear reactor in America used to take three years. Now the paperwork alone can eat a decade. Kevin Kong, CEO and Founder of Everstar, went from scaling Bird scooters to using AI to untangle nuclear permitting, supply chains and robotic welding. We get into why large reactors can beat SMRs on cost, how the US lost its nuclear supply chain, the jobs a new reactor fleet could create, guarding export controlled data, and how they always knew when Shaq was riding a Bird.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
0:00 Intro
1:12 From Bird to Everstar
6:33 The library book that started it all
10:16 Nuclear myths and the Watts Bar story
13:49 How the US lost its nuclear edge
19:38 AI for nuclear permitting
27:05 Models, physics and regulation
32:58 SMRs vs large reactors
41:34 Data centers and nuclear jobs
44:05 Knowledge gaps and robotic welding
50:16 Security and export controls
53:43 Simulating plant operations
58:43 Building across teams
1:01:54 AI native energy companies
1:06:59 Scaling chaos at Bird
1:09:39 Book picks and where to find Kevin
https://twitter.com/collide_ai
https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io
https://www.facebook.com/collide.io
https://www.instagram.com/collide.io
https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io
https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social
https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
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Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.
Apply today at collide.io
0:00 Intro
1:12 From Bird to Everstar
6:33 The library book that started it all
10:16 Nuclear myths and the Watts Bar story
13:49 How the US lost its nuclear edge
19:38 AI for nuclear permitting
27:05 Models, physics and regulation
32:58 SMRs vs large reactors
41:34 Data centers and nuclear jobs
44:05 Knowledge gaps and robotic welding
50:16 Security and export controls
53:43 Simulating plant operations
58:43 Building across teams
1:01:54 AI native energy companies
1:06:59 Scaling chaos at Bird
1:09:39 Book picks and where to find Kevin
https://twitter.com/collide_ai
https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io
https://www.facebook.com/collide.io
https://www.instagram.com/collide.io
https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io
https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social
https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai