Home | Gone Fission Podcast

Interested In The Latest News At DOE's Nuclear Facilities

Every Gone Fission podcast tells the story of the latest developments in the emerging nuclear renaissance. You’ll hear about small modular reactors, advanced nuclear fuels, uranium enrichment projects, recycling spent nuclear fuel and more. You’ll also learn more about the partnership between nuclear power projects and the massive data centers that are changing the face of technology in the U.S. and globally.

Plus, Gone Fission continues to cover vital environmental cleanup projects across the Department of Energy complex. Our guests bring news, commentary and insights regarding impactful developments in nuclear cleanup nationwide.

DOE is now engaged in the largest environmental remediation program in history, cleaning up nuclear production sites across the U.S. that were used to support national security missions for 75 years.

Some of the work on these sites dates back to the super-secret Manhattan Project, a national priority to develop the first atomic bomb that helped end World War II.

Cleanup of these sites is a multi-decade effort, requiring thousands of trained professionals and highly skilled crafts people with budgets in the billions of dollars.

Each week, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast reports on the latest news in DOE’s Environmental Management program and features interviews with newsmakers associated with this massive cleanup effort.

Meet Our Host: Michael Butler

Michael Butler is the creator and host of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report. Currently serving as president of Carolina Public Relations Group in Charlotte, NC, Michael has a long and distinguished career in communications and marketing for entities involved in both the commercial and government sectors of the nuclear industry.

A former newspaper and wire service reporter, Michael served as Public Information Officer for the Department of Energy and its predecessors at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

His experience includes serving as national media spokesman for DOE on matters related to its facilities nationwide and performing similar work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its predecessors in connection with licensing for commercial nuclear power plants nationwide. More recently, he has served as a senior consultant to corporations pursuing and performing work for the Department of Energy at facilities in Oak Ridge, Savannah River and Hanford, Washington.

Michael was also Manager of Media Relations for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility. He served as chief nuclear spokesman for the seven-state utility and was lead speechwriter for the TVA Board of Directors. A recognized expert in crisis communications, he was a key member of a utility-wide team that revamped TVA’s Crisis Communications Plan following the Three Mile Island incident.

He has also served as chief speechwriter for the president of Phillips Petroleum Company (now ConocoPhillips) and as a DOE communications consultant reporting directly to the Secretary of Energy. Working with Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Michael founded Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA), a grassroots nuclear education organization in Aiken, South Carolina, and created the annual Teller Lecture which attracts hundreds to hear a leading nuclear industry figure annually.

In his later career, Michael founded and managed two public relations and marketing firms, including Butler Ackermann Public Relations in Knoxville, TN, and Carolina Public Relations Group in Charlotte, NC.

Our Latest Podcast Episodes

Listen On