Twenty-five years after the devastating nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the world’s attention is again focused on nuclear energy and the risks associated with nuclear technology. The massive damage to Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is contributing to growing fears over the safety of such facilities. But are those fears misplaced? How safe is nuclear power? Experts remain divided over the risks and benefits.
Host Frank Stasio examines the role that nuclear energy will play in powering the future with John Gilligan, a professor of nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University and Director of US DOE Nuclear Energy University Programs; David McNelis, a research professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Jim Warren, director of N.C. Warn, a nonprofit watchdog organization.