When you think of nuclear power, what comes to mind? For some, it's the accidental nuclear meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant in 1979 or the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. In the decade following Three Mile Island, dozens of nuclear reactor construction projects were canceled.
But despite some public misgivings about nuclear waste storage safety, tech leaders are turning once again to nuclear as an alternative energy source as artificial intelligence increases our nation's demand for energy.
Microsoft has agreed to pay an energy company to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island plant, and founder Bill Gates has invested in a next-generation nuclear plant in Wyoming that uses sodium, not water for cooling. And two years ago, the first nuclear reactor built from scratch since the 1970s came online in Georgia.
Monday on the "Sound of Ideas," we're going to talk about this nuclear power renaissance. Is there an appetite for nuclear in Ohio? And what are the challenges that remain regarding cost and safety?
We'll talk to a nuclear advocate, energy expert and energy reporter to start the hour.
Then, we'll feature a new exhibit at the Maltz Museum that focuses on immigration.
Guests:
- Jonathan Steirer, Interim Director, Great Lakes Energy Institute, Case Western Reserve University
- Kathiann Kowalski, Contributing Reporter, Canary Media
- Mike Conley, Co-Author, "Earth Is a Nuclear Planet"
- Elizabeth Z. Pineda, Artist
- Tom Kiefer, Artist
- Aaron Petersal, Executive Director, Maltz Museum
