Rethinking Nuclear Power

In the coming months I will be blogging here about a film I’m making called “Pandora’s Promise”.  The film is an independently produced, feature-length documentary about the history of nuclear power, told in part through the eyes of several prominent former ‘anti-nukers’ who have recently come to believe, as I do, that without the rapid development of nuclear energy we are unlikely to have any hope of mitigating an unprecedented man-made climate catastrophe.

The film will show how ideology, dogma and a misunderstanding of science and technology are driving not just the right (in denying man-made climate disruptions) but also the left (when it comes to realistically confronting our energy options).  For those concerned about the twin crises of climate and energy, the film will argue that nuclear power is the elephant in the room.

Lest you think that I’m painfully misinformed or perhaps even a shill for the nuclear power industry, let me fill you in on a bit about how I arrived here.  My first film, Radio Bikini (Academy Award nominee for Best Feature Documentary of 1987) is widely considered to be one of the classic anti-nuclear documentaries.  25 years after it was made it remains among the most popular documentaries available on iTunes.  My most recent film is “Earth Days”, is a history of (and a virtual love letter to) the environmental movement of my youth.  It premiered as the Closing Night Film of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to considerable acclaim.  I have lived and breathed these issues for decades and do not come to this subject lightly, or with blinders on.

This blog will chronicle what I’ve learned in developing “Pandora’s Promise” and will explore many of the themes and topics that will be addressed in the film.  I hope it will also serve as a forum for offering feedback to me about what resonates with you and what doesn’t.  I also hope serves to spark a much-needed public debate about a subject that is literally becoming a matter of life and death for all of us.