What role should Nuclear Power play in energy production? This episode of the podcast explores the case for Nuclear Energy. I speak with Rachel Slaybaugh, who was an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Division Director at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She also served as a Program Director at the Department of Energy’s ARPA‑E, where she created the nuclear fission program. She is currently a partner at DCVC. We discuss three of the main problems that people have with nuclear power: (i) The risk of plant meltdowns, (ii) the storage of nuclear waste, and (iii) the expense of setting up new nuclear plants. We also cover the environmental benefits of nuclear as a low carbon energy source, as well as some of the exciting new advanced reactor designs that are coming online right now.

►You can find out more about Rachel Here:
https://www.dcvc.com/team/rachel-slay...

►Follow rachel on twitter:
@RachelSlaybaugh

►Plots shown in discussion:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/de...
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/facts...

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.

Menu:
0:00 - Introduction
1:25 - Why do we need nuclear?
3:25 - The Dangers of Nuclear.
7:10 - Chernobyl & Fukushima.
14:20 - Can Reactors Be Built Safe?
17:25 - Nuclear Waste.
25:30 - Fuel recycling.
31:10 - Economics.
36:45 - Germany Shutting Down Its Reactors.
37:35 - Why Do We Not Use More Nuclear?
42:00 - Advanced Reactors.
44:00 - Thorium Reactors.
46:40 - Small Modular Reactors.
48:10 - The Future Of Nuclear.


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