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:

►Follow rachel on twitter:

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.