Jeremy Gordon: Why nuclear energy needs a reinvention

The only issue of the day, COVID-19, demands that we consider what might come next even as everything changes around us.

In the May issue of Nuclear Engineering International I put forward the idea that the values guiding the world through this crisis are science, society and solidarity, and that they stand to influence global changes through the 2020s. Meanwhile, nuclear energy remains associated with the values of previous decades and therefore may soon find itself even more socially stranded than it is now. However, nuclear technology, the benefits of its use and the best features of the industry all already align with a decade of science, society and solidarity. I say work in those areas should be boosted and made key to a revised value proposition for the 2020s.