Nuclear Energy: Reimagining Its Future in the US

By Ben Schroeder, Andrew Chu, Jake Pappo, Justin Xu, Manay Bansul, Michael Baxter, and Moe Zuinen

Research Paper

Science & Technology

This paper identifies two distinct but interrelated problem areas pertaining to nuclear energy in the United States—an energy source which is largely left out of mainstream discussions about renewables but which should be seriously considered given its high energy capacity and the urgency of the need to decarbonize. Currently, any recommendation to expand nuclear energy in the United States faces two common forms of pushback:

• Nuclear energy is too expensive and not logistically feasible to build out.

• Public perception of nuclear energy is so polarized that policies to expand nuclear energy are not politically feasible.

In this paper, we attempt to unpack each of these arguments. Using economic, technological, and historical analyses, we argue that these arguments against nuclear energy are self-fulfilling; by examining global case studies where nuclear energy has been successfully incorporated into national energy grids, we elaborate recommendations for policy in order to make nuclear energy more feasible in the American context.