My Informational Interview

I did my informational interview with Mark Nutt, who is a section manager at Argonne National Laboratory. He works primarily in nuclear energy, specifically in waste disposal. His interview yielded some interesting points that I think we should consider when making our investment decision. His main points are listed below:

• What Will Determine Growth?: Government funding primarily drives the nuclear energy industry. The industry's growth mainly depends on how the government and the public see nuclear energy relative to other options. My interviewee hopes that “they [the government] have a clue,” because he sees nuclear as a viable option given U.S. energy demand. He expects demand to rise rapidly, which would cause the price of natural gas, currently a major fuel source, to increase quickly. This would make options like nuclear more cost-competitive. He then explained that many renewable energy sources that are focused on right now, such as wind and solar, will not be able to keep up with the growing demand for energy. This is a useful point when considering a long-term investment.
• Short vs. Long Term: He also explained that there is a big push in renewable energy like wind, solar, and battery technology and that government financing is currently behind this movement. He told me that these “renewables” are solid for growth. He also said that for short-term investments, natural gas has potential to grow quickly. For a more long-term investment, he said either nuclear or traditional “renewables” like wind and solar will grow. This would depend on government policy, though.
• A Specific Company: In a more specific suggestion, he brought up an interesting company with a unique business model. It is called Castle Holdings, Limited. They are in the business of going through the licensing process that is required before building a nuclear plant. Essentially, this company finds a site, takes care of the government and all of the regulatory hurdles, and then sells the license and the site to a builder. To me, this sounds like a great investment idea if nuclear grows. I posted an article about an incident in which a nuclear project was going to end because of a dispute between two companies and the government. This sort of company could be useful in averting these disputes and ensuring that nuclear projects do not fail for insignificant reasons.