Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Grace Vanderhei, Nuclear Engineer, Former Miss America, and Nuclear Advocate, to discuss nuclear energy. Grace works as a nuclear fuels engineer at Constellation Energy and has become a public voice for nuclear science, clean energy, and grid reliability. The conversation covers nuclear advocacy, public trust, advanced reactors, fusion, workforce development, and the role nuclear could play in America’s energy future.
Timestamped Overview
00:00 – Introduction and Grace Vanderhei’s background as Miss America 2023 and a nuclear engineer
00:45 – How Miss America became a platform for nuclear science and clean energy advocacy
03:09 – Choosing nuclear engineering and confronting public misconceptions about the field
05:06 – Translating between technical engineering environments and public-facing communication
07:10 – Grace’s work as a nuclear fuels engineer at Constellation Energy
09:33 – How public support for nuclear energy has changed over the past five years
12:55 – AI, data centers, and broader drivers of rising electricity demand
14:12 – Grace’s ideal energy mix and the role nuclear could play in the U.S. grid
16:22 – What surprises people about visiting nuclear power plants
17:46 – Advanced reactor diversity, regulatory change, and nuclear applications in space
19:31 – Public speaking, technical credibility, and pressure in front of different audiences
21:33 – Becoming a public face of nuclear energy and representing younger voices in the industry
26:16 – How working at Constellation shapes Grace’s public communication about nuclear energy
27:22 – Small modular reactors, microreactors, licensing challenges, and commercialization timelines
31:48 – Fusion energy, its promise, and Grace’s expectations for grid deployment
35:00 – What needs to be built now to support the next phase of nuclear deployment
38:12 – Gen Z, authenticity, community, and building the next generation of nuclear advocates
42:00 – Career advice for young engineers and following a nontraditional path
42:56 – Public trust, policy, standardization, and building reactors on time and on budget
47:23 – U.S. nuclear competitiveness relative to China and France
49:50 – Final takeaway: nuclear is safe, effective, reliable, and worth learning about
