February 22, 2012

Road to the White House 2012: The Future of Nuclear Power in the U.S. Energy Supply
Tutor Campus Center Forum (TCC 450), 11:30 a.m. Lunch; 12 noon Discussion

There are three obstacles to the future development of nuclear power: safety, waste disposal and weapons proliferation. The current U.S. administration has a mixed record regarding nuclear power. On one hand, it has been promoting nuclear power as a means to producing energy without greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, it has stopped the development of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada calling into question a solution that seemed to be in reach. The accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has again raised the concerns about safety risks of nuclear power plants, and Iran continues to create headlines about nuclear proliferation.

In this presentation, USC Price School of Public Policy professor Detlof von Winterfeldt will first put the long-term future of nuclear power into a global context, then hone in on the future of U.S. energy. He will reflect on the obstacles to further expansion of nuclear power in the U.S. and end with some observations on the seeming silence by all current political players about the issue in the current political debate.

Road to the White House 2012: Politics, Media & Technology is a weekly series presented in partnership with USC Dornsife College’s Unruh Institute of Politics, USC Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and USC Price School of Public Policy’s Bedrosian Center on Governance and Public Enterprise. 









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