Nuclear Energy Is Not Scary, Says Oppenheimer Project Director
Oppenheimer Project Senior Director Theo Kalionzes sat down with Forbes for an interview to discuss why philanthropic donors have a tremendous opportunity for impact by funding work on nuclear energy. He makes the case that nuclear energy is not scary, but neglecting the topic could be. The conversation also covered how decades of fear and misunderstanding have overshadowed nuclear power’s potential to deliver safe, scalable, low-carbon energy.
The conversation highlights how philanthropy and private funding are beginning to shift toward nuclear energy, signaling a new chapter for the technology and civil society’s role in ensuring its expansion is efficient, safe, and secure.
Gov. Jerry Brown and Alexandra Bell: The threat of nuclear war never went away
In their new op-ed with the Los Angeles Times, former California Governor Jerry Brown along with co-author Alexandra Bell, recent Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Affairs at the Department of State and current president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, draw lessons about the desirability for nuclear risk reduction from Kathryn Bigelow’s new nuclear thriller A House of Dynamite.
Sen. Ed Markey advocates for nuclear arms control talks with Russia
Writing an opinion essay for MSNBC, US Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) urged the Trump administration to engage the Russian Federation in arms control negotiations, calling A House of Dynamite “a wake-up call.”
Stephen Wertheim: Toward a Taiwan truce
In his new essay for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Wertheim, historian of US foreign relations and Senior Fellow with the American Statecraft program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posits a tentative path for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease tensions and rejuvenate stability across the Taiwan Strait as Xi’s unilateral 2027 deadline for reunification nears.
Westinghouse enters partnership for $80 billion of new nuclear reactors
On Tuesday, October 28, Westinghouse Electric Co. announced it has joined with Cameco Corp. and Brookfield Asset Management to build ~$80 billion worth of new nuclear reactors across the United States at the behest of the US federal government.
Google, NextEra to revive major Iowa nuclear facility
On Monday, October 27, Google and NextEra Energy, the American electric utility giant, announced a partnership to revive Iowa’s only nuclear power plant to meet growing low-carbon energy demand for AI data centers.
Podcast of the Week: Lucas
This week, I listened to the newest episode of the Net Assessment podcast from the Stimson Center. In this episode, titled “Are Rising Powers Over?” hosts Melanie Marlowe, Christopher Preble and Zach Cooper discuss the International Relations scholar Michael Beckley’s new Foreign Affairs essay “The Stagnant Order and the End of Rising Powers.” Beckley’s essay stimulated a lively discussion between the hosts who quibbled over several of his arguments and pondered serious questions that he raised.