Chapter One: Why is Nuclear Energy Important?

Published August 01, 2019

The United States is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity. Government policy changes since the late 1990s have helped pave the way for significant growth in nuclear capacity. For the first time in decades, the United States has the opportunity to think about what the future national energy policy will look like, and the nuclear power should feature as a low-carbon, energy dense source of electricity generation.

Video Recorded: August 23, 2018

Discussion Questions

1. What are the advantages of nuclear power?
2. Do you think that nuclear power plants are inherently unstable?
3. Could nuclear energy help the third world to develop carbon-free economies?

Additional Readings

• Watch "Redefining Energy Security" by Admiral James O. Ellis Jr., available here.
• Read James O. Ellis Jr.’s chapter “Redefining Energy Security” in Blueprint for America available here.
• You can find the rest of “Blueprint for America” here.
• Read the “The Benefits Of Nuclear Power” by Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. , George P. Shultz, available here.
• Admiral James O. Ellis discusses nuclear energy at Stanford University in “Reinventing Nuclear Energy.” Available here.