Nuclear Renaissance of Tomorrow

The Political Orphanage

Andrew Heaton

Comedy, Moderate, Politics, Independent, News, Nonpartisan, Libertarian

5 • 951 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2023

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is nuclear power cheap and safe, or dangerous and expensive? Dr. Robert Zubrin is the author of “The Case for Nukes: How We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificent Future.”

Zubrin holds Master of Science degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering, from the University of Washington. Prior to his work in aerospace, Dr. Zubrin worked in areas of radiation protection, nuclear power plant safety, thermonuclear fusion research, and as a secondary school science and math teacher.

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LINKS:

Zubrin on TPO: “I Want to Build a Moon Base” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-98-i-want-to-build-a-moon-base-guest-robert-zubrin/id1439837349?i=1000434628317

Zubrin on ATA: “Turns Out, We’re All Probably Martians” https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/turns-out-were-all-probably-martians/id1488171922?i=1000474556038&l=da

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the political orphanage, a home for the bright, the nuanced, and potentially the radioactive.
0:16.8	I'm your host, Andrew Heaton.
0:19.9	This month, the lights went on at Plant Volkral Unit 3, the first American nuclear power plant
0:26.7	to be built from scratch in the United States in decades.
0:31.4	Nuclear proponents think that the future of that power source looks bright.
0:36.0	Polling shows the highest level of support for nuclear power since Fukushima,
0:40.0	and while Democrats remain generally more skeptical of nuclear power than Republicans,
0:44.0	the Biden administration put $6 billion into the infrastructure bill to maintain existing plants.
0:49.6	Of course at the same time, that same Plant Vocal Unit 3 cost about twice what it was predicted to cost.
0:56.0	It went significantly over budget.
0:59.0	But outside of costs and tax breaks and polling, nuclear power represents two very different things.
1:09.2	One group sees nuclear power as a no-brainer, clean, efficient, cheap and abundant power enough to supply all our energy needs, enough power to forever boot kick our carbon footprint and save the world.
1:27.2	The other group also sees a no-brainer.
1:31.8	They view nuclear power as a risky expensive way to boil water.
1:37.0	Even if you could get the cost down, which is saying something, you're talking about something so potentially horrific and deadly. It makes more sense to double
1:47.2	down on wind and solar because it takes just one catastrophic accident to ruin millions of lives and acres in perpetuity. It takes just
1:57.0	one catastrophic accident to make Godzilla. And it occurs to me that on this very important source of power, one which could potentially transform America and the world, much for the better or worse.
2:19.1	Most of my knowledge about nuclear power comes from
2:35.9	So today we are going to meet the great Dr Robert Zubrin who will make his case in favor of nuclear energy. Right here on the political orphanage.
2:40.2	A program which is not nuclear-powered, but listener-powered.
2:44.7	The political orphanage is made possible by the audience which enjoys it, and they do so
2:50.0	not by swallowing thorium pellets and processing them in a fission reaction inside of their
	...

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