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This special episode of Collaborative for the Earth (C4E) examines how U.S. efforts to move away from fossil fuels collide with surging electricity demand from AI and data centers, prompting companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to pursue nuclear power.
Distributed by American Public Media from January through April 2026, C4E presents in its first national radio broadcast the history of nuclear energy in the United States, from Eisenhower’s 1953 “Atoms for Peace” through Three Mile Island, and changing public opinion under the Trump administration. Today, approximately 94 reactors supply just over 18% of U.S. utility-scale electricity. The narrative episode explores the restarting of shuttered plants, the promise and skepticism around small modular reactors, and shifts in energy policy as climate solutions that were discussed during an April 2025 Governor’s Island forum debate, in partnership with The New York Climate Exchange.
Learn more with:
- SBU’s Collaborative for the Earth Debuts National Broadcast Special on Nuclear Energy
- SBU Hosts 2nd Annual Environmental Forum on Nuclear Energy’s Role in Climate Solutions
- Understanding Nuclear Energy with C4E’s ‘Nuclear 101’ Conversation
Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:
- 01:25 Three Mile Island Shock
- 04:05 Nuclear Numbers Shift
- 05:54 Why This Podcast
- 07:21 AI Power Hunger
- 11:13 Restarting Old Reactors
- 13:47 Debating Nuclear Role
- 20:47 Safety After Fukushima
- 25:34 Regulation Lessons Learned
- 27:01 Nuclear Waste Dilemma
- 31:31 Do We Need Nuclear
- 32:50 Long Island Case Study
- 35:28 Build Times and Costs
- 37:23 Safety Versus Speed
- 41:10 Geopolitics and Supply Chains
- 45:43 Four Paths to Expand
- 47:43 Small Modular Reactor Hype
- 51:55 Financing the Nuclear Bet
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You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.
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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.
Special thanks to The New York Climate Exchange and Stony Brook’s Office of the Provost, Office of Marketing and Communications and the MS in Journalism program for their support.
Host: Heather Lynch
Writer: J.D. Allen
Editors: Terry Sheridan, Lori Kie
Producers: Jordan Vallone, Melanie Formosa
Post Production: Denis Murray
Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday
