feat: safe nuclear
a modest and optimal strategic policy adjustment to improve nuclear support through additional safety measures
I. Background
I was pleased with the nuanced and level-headed discussion on climate that recently took place on the Lex Fridman podcast, shown below. When it comes to efficiently solving the energy crisis, a potent option is modern nuclear energy. A substantial proportion of American voters discourage the use of nuclear, and this article proposes a simple policy adjustment to unblock support.
The current outlook on nuclear among voters is neither hopeless nor wonderful. Pew notes that there is already greater support for nuclear compared to oil and gas. Further, while a minority of Americans support nuclear, there are more that support nuclear compared to the number that opposes it. Thirty-seven percent of Americans neither support nor oppose nuclear. This middle way is the most popular response. If half of those in the middle were to join the affirmative, there would be majority support. If all of the undecided respondents joined the affirmative, it would pass the Gingrich test for voter supermajority support.
This situation is such that I have some confidence that a simple adjustment could get the public over the fifty-percent mark in the next five years.
II. The Simple Adjustment
The simple adjustment is to designate safe nuclear regions. These regions are n distance from k objects of interest. Because this policy is specified using variables instead of particulars, it is a policy strategy. The variables can be used as hyperparameters and tuned to optimize on the tradeoff between public support and feasibility. Increasing the distance n and the object set k will reduce feasibility and improve public support. Polling and other tools can be used to probe the curve.
A sample instance of this strategy would be to designate safe nuclear regions as areas 100 miles away from both oceanic coast and major population centers. Such parameters, if approved, might lead to nuclear plant clusters which could be risky because one failure might lead to a chain of failures. To mitigate clustering, three other interesting modifications include:
limiting plant count per geographic area
setting some minimum distance between plants
regulating the specifications of the plant(s) themselves
III. A Longer Game
A secondary, longer-term strategy is to leverage education to improve popular support for nuclear energy. American voters already support additional education spending and additional efforts on green energy education and climate change education in particular. These education dollars could be spent in a way that effectively improves popular support for safe nuclear over time.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/04/case-for-nuclear-strengthens-as-first-new-nuclear-reactor-in-decades-goes-online/