Follow Them Friday: How Nick Touran Built the Internet's Best Nuclear Energy Guide
Follow Them Friday: How Nick Touran Built the Internet's Best Nuclear Energy Guide
If you have ever typed "what is nuclear" into a search engine, chances are good that Nick Touran already answered your question -- years ago, for free, with a level of clarity most textbooks cannot match.
In this edition of Follow Them Friday, Naked Nuclear host Danielle Allen sits down with Nick Touran, the founder of WhatIsNuclear.com and one of the most quietly influential voices in nuclear energy education. Their conversation covers everything from the origins of the site to the future of advanced reactors, and it is packed with the kind of straightforward insight that makes Nick's work so valuable in the first place.
From Michigan to the Reactor Room
Nick Touran holds a PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, where he focused on the optimization of fast reactors. After earning his doctorate, he spent 15 years as a reactor physicist at TerraPower, the advanced nuclear company founded by Bill Gates, designing next-generation reactor concepts. He also holds a Professional Engineering license in nuclear engineering -- a credential that speaks to his depth of technical expertise.
But Nick is not just an engineer. He is a translator. His real gift is taking dense, jargon-heavy nuclear science and making it accessible to anyone willing to read or watch.
Building WhatIsNuclear.com: A Labor of Clarity
WhatIsNuclear.com started as a student project at the University of Michigan back in 2006. A group of nuclear engineering students wanted to create a resource that explained nuclear energy in plain language. Over nearly two decades, the site evolved under Nick's stewardship into one of the most comprehensive, trusted nuclear education resources on the internet.
In 2025, Nick formalized the effort by incorporating What is Nuclear, LLC, turning a volunteer passion project into a consulting practice and educational platform. The site covers reactor design, nuclear history, policy, waste management, and just about every question a curious person might have about how splitting atoms can power a city.
As Nick describes it, the mission is simple: provide "calm and true information" about nuclear energy -- acknowledging both the tremendous advantages and the real challenges the technology faces.
What Coolants and Moderators Actually Do
One of the standout moments in the episode is Nick's explanation of reactor fundamentals. If you have ever been confused by terms like "coolant," "moderator," or "fast reactor," this conversation will clear things up fast.
Nick walks through how different reactor designs use different materials to manage the chain reaction and remove heat. Light water reactors -- the workhorses of today's fleet -- use ordinary water as both coolant and moderator. Advanced designs experiment with sodium, molten salt, lead, and even gas. Each choice involves trade-offs in safety, efficiency, and engineering complexity.
What makes Nick's explanation valuable is that he does not just list facts. He explains why these choices matter -- why a sodium-cooled fast reactor behaves differently from a pressurized water reactor, and what those differences mean for safety, waste, and cost.
"Nuclear energy is the energy source with the best capacity to produce world-scale energy responsibly. But you have to be honest about the drawbacks too, rather than concealing them."
Historical Nuclear Film: A Hidden Treasure
Beyond the website, Nick has built a growing YouTube presence focused on something unexpected: historical nuclear film. He digs up archival footage from the early days of the nuclear industry -- training films, government documentaries, facility tours -- and presents them with modern commentary and context.
Danielle describes being "enthralled" watching this content after discovering it on LinkedIn. And it is easy to see why. These films capture a moment in history when nuclear power was new, ambitious, and full of possibility. Nick's commentary bridges the gap between that era and today, showing what we learned, what we lost, and what still matters.
Regulation: The Speed of Innovation vs. The Speed of a Glacier
The conversation turns serious when Nick and Danielle discuss the regulatory environment. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plays an essential role in public safety, but the pace of regulatory review has become a bottleneck for innovation.
Nick offers a nuanced take. He does not dismiss regulation -- he understands deeply why it exists and what it protects. But he argues that the current framework was designed for a specific generation of reactor technology. New designs, with fundamentally different safety characteristics, need a regulatory approach that can adapt without compromising its core mission of protecting public health.
"If we want innovation to move faster than a glacier, we need regulation that can evaluate new ideas without forcing them into boxes built for old ones."
Why Nick Touran Deserves Your Follow
In a world full of hot takes and algorithm-driven content, Nick Touran represents something increasingly rare: expertise delivered with humility. He does not sensationalize. He does not oversimplify. He builds understanding one clear explanation at a time.
Whether you are a nuclear professional looking for a reliable reference, a student trying to understand the basics, or just someone curious about where our energy comes from, WhatIsNuclear.com and Nick's YouTube channel belong in your bookmarks.
Where to Find Nick Touran
- Website: WhatIsNuclear.com
- YouTube: @whatisnuclear
- LinkedIn: Search for Nick Touran
- Personal site: partofthething.com
Listen to the full episode to hear Nick break down advanced reactor designs, share stories from nearly two decades in the industry, and explain why he believes nuclear energy education is more important now than ever. This is one of those conversations where you will walk away genuinely knowing more than you did before -- and that is the highest compliment we can give a Follow Them Friday guest.
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