Despite its characteristics as a clean energy source, nuclear energy has not been a priority in the energy transition to date. Countries like Germany have shut down their last nuclear plants despite of the loss of pipeline natural gas from Russia and the US has been on a similar path with the Palisades and Diablo Canyon power plant closure decision as an example. You mention nuclear power and most people think of nuclear accidents like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi. But despite those high-profile safety accidents, nuclear energy maybe seeing a comeback. A new plant has opened at Vogtle in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. The first nuclear power plant in the Middle East has opened in the UAE and a fourth-generation plant opened in 2023 at the Shidaowan plant in China's northern Shandong province. Add to these events, talk of small modular reactors and growing interest in nuclear plants to power the new AI data centers and maybe the idea of a comeback is not so crazy. In this episode we talk with Dr. Naj Meshkati from USC about nuclear energy and risk management of potential future nuclear power plants.

Industrial processes like the manufacture of steel, cement, fertilizers and petrochemicals, especially plastics, account for one-third of our global energy use. The world now produces annually about 4.5 billion tons of cement, 1.8 billion tons of steel, nearly 400 million tons of plastics, and 180 million tons of ammonia. Their manufacture requires high temperatures, which is often the case, the heat comes from burning fossil fuels. What is the path to decarbonize industrial processes? In this episode we talk to two researchers from the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines about their recent work on “green steel and carbon sequestration.” Let’s welcome Anna Littlefield and Edikan Udofia.

S2 E10 | Energy Security Plan for the Middle East