Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Generation Atomic

You may have heard about the climate talks last year – COP23 taking place in Bonn, Germany – where young people protested the promotion of coal during a U.S. panel event by singing a version of “God Bless the USA,” with the lyrics changed to “I'll gladly stand up next to you and keep it [fossil fuels] in the ground…” What didn’t make the news was that America’s largest source of carbon-free energy, nuclear power, was also represented on that panel. While I admired the protestors’ passion and creativity, I was disappointed that they left the room before I had a chance to speak on the panel on how advanced nuclear energy can bring clean power to people around the world and help mitigate climate change.

The atmosphere in that room at the U.S. event at COP23 was tense, but luckily I had the volunteers from Generation Atomic there, supporting me in the front row. There are plenty of people around the world and in the U.S. that are passionate about clean energy and mitigating climate change. Generation Atomic sets out to mobilize these passionate individuals to support nuclear energy as a necessary part of the solution.

As with the international climate talks, conversations on clean energy goals on the state and local levels in the U.S. typically leave out nuclear energy. This is where people like you come in.

At NuScale, where I work, we’re developing a small modular reactor that would be perfect for replacing retiring coal plants or gas plants that currently back up renewables. But without a public push for legislative changes, nuclear will continue to be left out of clean energy mandates, and we won’t even be able to build our reactor in the 14 states that have banned nuclear construction (including in Oregon, where our reactor was designed). You can start making a difference by signing up to volunteer here, or by supporting Generation Atomic’s work here.

Lenka Kollar

Board Member

Generation Atomic