Should We Be Using More Nuclear Power?
Two things about nuclear power are both true, and holding them at the same time is the point of this week. Measured by deaths per unit of energy produced, it's one of the safest sources we have. It has also caused some of the most frightening industrial accidents in history. This week you'll get the science, take one of three positions, and run a real climate model to see what nuclear actually does to global temperature.
Reading List
This week is unusual — there's no required reading. The slide deck carries the evidence and Wednesday's simulation does the rest. If you want background on the accidents everyone brings up, start here.
Optional
- Chernobyl — History
- Fukushima Disaster: What Happened at the Nuclear Plant? — BBC
Where the Data Comes From
- What Are the Safest Sources of Energy? — Our World in Data. This is the source behind the slide that surprises everyone.
- How Can Nuclear Replace Coal in the Clean Energy Transition? — IAEA
One-Week Plan
Here's the shape of the week. Your guide will set the exact timing for your section.
Say What You Think First
Five minutes of writing on what you already think about nuclear power — and here's a harder question to answer honestly: where did that impression come from? A film, a news story, a class, a parent?
Then the science and the numbers. How many reactors exist and where. How much of the world's electricity is nuclear (about 10%). What the US actually runs on. And the slide that changes rooms: deaths per unit of energy on one side, greenhouse emissions on the other. Both favour nuclear, and most people find that hard to believe.
Also the money, which gets ignored: reactors are expensive because they're complicated, regulation slows them down, and they have to be built somewhere safe from earthquakes and floods. The average US plant is 40 years old, and only one new one has been built in twenty years.
You'll finish with one thing that confirmed your view and one that challenged it.
Not For or Against — Three Options
Most seminars split you in two. This one has three real positions, and each has good arguments against it:
- Build more. Almost no carbon, very safe per unit of energy, uses far less land than solar or wind, and it runs at night and when the wind stops.
- Keep what we have. We can't store renewable energy at scale yet, so we need something constant — and shutting reactors usually means burning more gas or coal.
- Phase it out. Germany did it and it pushed investment into renewables. Wind and solar go up far faster than a reactor. And nobody has solved permanent waste storage.
The question at the centre of the week: nuclear has an excellent safety record per unit of energy, and it has caused disasters people still fear decades later. Both are true. Don't pick one and ignore the other — explain how they fit together.
Run the Climate Model Yourself
You'll use En-ROADS, a real climate simulator built at MIT. Move the nuclear slider and watch emissions and projected temperature respond.
- How much does nuclear actually shift things? More or less than you expected?
- Which other energy sources move the line more?
- What surprised you?
- What does the model leave out? Every model makes assumptions. Finding them is the real skill.
Fair warning: turning nuclear all the way up moves the temperature less than most people expect. That's not a letdown — that's the finding, and it's worth arguing about.
Countries, and the Stories We've Been Told
Share the resources you found, then take on:
- Should the US build more, build less, or hold steady?
- The right answer isn't the same everywhere. Describe a country where expanding nuclear makes sense — and one where it really doesn't.
- What have films and TV taught you about nuclear power? How much does its connection to nuclear weapons shape how people feel about power plants?
That last question matters more than it looks. It explains the gap between what the safety data says and how people actually feel — including you, on Monday morning.
Score Your Own Week
What went well, what to improve, what you learned, and whether anything you believed changed. Then the participation matrix. Be honest with yourself.