Welcome to the not-old better show Smithsonian Associates Inside Science series.

I'm Paul Vogel saying and this is episode number 353.

As part of our Smithsonian Associates Inside Science and Technology

series, we are joined today by author, policymaker, scholar and

businessman Dan Poneman.

Dan Poneman will be appearing up the Smithsonian Associates,

May 22, 2019, and his presentation is entitled Double Jeopardy,

combating nuclear terror and climate change.

Humanity faces two challenges in which nuclear power plays a pivotal role,

the spread of nuclear weapons, and mitigating climate change.

Both have human origins and both are linked to the use of nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy is the most prodigious source of carbon-free electricity now available and could prove

pivotal to addressing global climate change and air pollution concerns.

Yet inherent in the use of atomic power is the risk that the technology

and materials can be mishandled resulting in tragic disasters or diverted to terrorists

or hostile nations and used to make nuclear weapons. The key question is

whether we can use nuclear energy to reduce the threat of climate change without

increasing the risk of nuclear accident or attack. Dan Poneman, Senior Fellow with a Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Centris Energy Corporation argues that the world needs

an all-of-the-above energy policy, one that advances the goal of decarbonizing the environment

through all available means means including nuclear power.

There is a lot of enthusiasm around renewable energy and I share that enthusiasm.

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