Is nuclear power the answer to climate change?

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IAEA fact-finding team leader Mike Weightman examines Reactor Unit 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on 27 May 2011 to assess tsunami damage and study nuclear safety lessons that could be learned from the accident.

IAEA fact-finding team leader Mike Weightman examines Reactor Unit 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on 27 May 2011 to assess tsunami damage and study nuclear safety lessons that could be learned from the accident. Photo Credit: Greg Webb / IAEA (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Nuclear power is a troubled industry with rising costs and a history of disasters: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. But the predictable consequences of climate change are scarier still. That’s led some opponents of nuclear--including the Union of Concerned Scientists--to take another look. Will it be needed if renewables, solar and wind, can’t develop fast enough to replace fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases?

Credits

Guests:

  • Joshua Goldstein - Professor Emeritus of International Relations, American University
  • Gregory Jaczko - ormer chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and founder of Wind Energy LLC

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Andrea Brody