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March 3 , 2005
Nuclear power generates 20 percent of the electricity used in the United States and 17 percent worldwide. By 2020, experts forecast world energy consumption will have grown by 75 percent. Should nuclear power be tapped to meet this growing demand, especially when we are confronted with the need to reduce greenhouse gases to address the threat of climate change? Or will the proliferation, economic and environmental challenges prove too much to overcome? Please join the Center for American Progress for a panel discussion of these important questions and more as we explore what the future holds for nuclear power.
Video & Transcript
• John D. Podesta: Video
• Dr. John Deutch: Video
• Dr. Burton Richter: Video
• Dr. Thomas Cochran: Video
• Q&A Session: Video
• Transcript: Full text (PDF)
Note: All video provided in QuickTime (MPEG-4) format.
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| Panelists |
 Dr. Thomas Cochran is Director of the Nuclear Program and holds the Wade Greene Chair for Nuclear Policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he initiated NRDC’s Nuclear Weapons Databook Project. He has served as a consultant to numerous government and non-government agencies on energy, nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear reactor matters, and he is a member of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee. Previously, he served as a member of DOE’s Environmental Management Advisory Board, the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Board and Energy Research Advisory Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on the Clean Up of Three Mile Island, and the TMI Public Health Advisory Board. Dr. Cochran is the recipient of the American Physical Society’s Szilard Award and the Federation of American Scientists’ Public Service Award. Because of his work, NRDC received the 1989 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Cochran is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the AAAS. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Vanderbilt University in 1967. |
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 Dr. John Deutch is an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he co-chaired MIT’s 2003 interdisciplinary study on The Future of Nuclear Power. Dr. Deutch has served as Director of Central Intelligence (1995-1996), Deputy Secretary of Defense (1994-1995), and Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Technology (1993-1994). From 1977 to 1980, he served in the U.S. Department of Energy as Director of Energy Research, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Technology, and Undersecretary of the Department. He has served on eight presidential commissions, councils, committees and advisory boards, has received nine Public Service Medals, as well as fellowships and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Dr. Deutch earned a B.A. in history and economics from Amherst College, and both the B.S. in chemical engineering and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from MIT. |
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 Dr. Burton Richter is Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences at Stanford University. In 1976, he received both the Nobel Prize in Physics and the E. O. Lawrence Award from the Department of Energy. He has been a professor at Stanford since 1967, where he served as Director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center from 1984 to1999. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society, where he served as President in 1994. He also served as President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 1999 to 2002. Presently, he is a member of the Department of Energy’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, Laboratory Operations Board, and Nuclear Energy Task Force. He chairs the Transmutation Subcommittee of the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee, as well as the National Research Council’s Board on Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Richter received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
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 John Podesta is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress. Mr. Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President Clinton from October 1998 to January 2001, and was responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House. He also served from 1997 to 1998 as both an Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. Earlier, from January 1993 to 1995, he was Assistant to the President, Staff Secretary and a Senior Policy Adviser on government information, privacy, telecommunications security and regulatory policy. Mr. Podesta is currently a Visiting Professor of law on the faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center, a position he also held from January 1995 to 1997. He has taught courses on technology policy, congressional investigations, legislation, copyright and public interest law. |
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