While countries like Japan, Italy and Germany begin to phase out their use of nuclear energy, the US aims to build the first new nuclear power plant in nearly thirty years. We hear excerpts from the film The Atomic States of America , which chronicles the rise of nuclear energy, the high price some communities have paid for it, and how the U.S. is pushing to redefine nuclear as green to meet our energy demand.

Special thanks to Specialty Studios.

Featuring: 

Kelly McMasters , author of Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town; David Lochbaum , nuclear engineer and senior member of Union of Concerned Scientists; Arnie Gunderson , nuclear engineer and former senior vice president of Nuclear Energy Services; Christine Todd Whitman , co-chair of CASEnergy Coalition, former New Jersey governor and administrator for the U.S Environmental Protection Agency; Eric Epstein , chair of Three Mile Island Alert; Neil Sheehan , spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Paul Cataldo , NRC resident inspector for Indian Point Unit 3; Michelle Catts , NRC resident inspector for Indian Point Unit 2; Dr. Helen Caldicott , co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility; Randy and Lauren Snell ; Alec Baldwin, actor.