Following World War Two the world entered the Atomic Age. With this huge leap forward in technology, the writers of the era imagined a glorious utopian future where everything was powered by nuclear energy. In reality, this was never truly possible, but unfortunately as a nation, we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by our largely irrational fears that the incidents of Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl have instilled in our population.

Both of these incidents were highly irregular. For example in the well-known incident at Chernobyl in the former Ukraine SSR there was a nuclear experimental systems test being conducted which overrode many safety protocols starting a chain of events that resulted in the meltdown at Chernobyl. This incident was the result two major factors, the first being disregard of safety protocols by the engineers in the control room, the second factor is the clearly flawed design that would allow for such an incident to take place.

This problem with reactor design has been addressed and companies like GE-Hitachi continue to produce revolutionary designs that are exceedingly safe and long-lived, with the majority of these designs are expected to produce energy efficiently for around 60 years. Many countries across the globe are embracing these new designs and are enthusiastically building them. Specifically many East Asian nations are amongst the most active in this new nuclear movement.

The most notable features on these reactor designs is the capability to completely shut down the plant in case of an emergency without the aid of humans. Relying on nothing but naturally occurring agents such as gravity, will reliably shut down the nuclear reaction.

Unfortunately, here in the United States many State governments have moratoriums on the construction of new nuclear power plants. These moratoriums need to be repealed as soon as possible so that we as nation can continue to move forward in the energy sector. Nuclear energy is a common sense replacement for coal as the majority load bearing energy source. As most Gusties know, coal is an incredibly dirty source of power, and yet in the upper Midwest the burning of coal produces about sixty-five percent of our electricity needs. This number is surprisingly high as we have an extremely clean and reliable source of energy at our fingertips that could take the place of coal.

Here in Minnesota we have a state legislature that is dominated by the DFL, a party that claims to be environmentally friendly, and yet they have refused to take action on this key of the moratorium on new nuclear power plants. The lawmakers here in Minnesota could learn how to structure this new needed legislation by looking at how states like South Carolina which has approved a new reactor to be built next to an existing nuclear power plant which is a common sense solution to a complicated issue.

We have two existing nuclear power plants in Minnesota, one in Red Wing, and one in Monticello. These two together with other power plants in the region produce about fifteen percent of the electricity consumed in the Upper Midwest. This is a relatively low number compared to other regions of the country.

This important issue of nuclear power is an important topic that many Gustavus could find themselves supporting. The vast majority of Gustavus students are supporters of commonsense environmentalism and there are many groups on campus that advocate for the environment.

“This important issue of Nuclear Power is an important topic that many Gustavus could find themselves supporting. The vast majority of Gustavus students are supporters of commonsense environmentalism and there are many groups on campus that advocate for the environment.“

Students that were here last year will distinctly remember the divest movement that advocated divesting the College from fossil fuels and they worked hand in hand with Gustavus Greens to achieve this goal. Perhaps these movements should consider advocating the adoption of nuclear power alongside renewable sources. In the end, nuclear power is a perfect compromise between the right and the left and if elements in both parties accept that we need nuclear power alongside renewables then we can finally make significant progress towards a brighter future.

-Andy Gladitsch