Climate Anxiety? Nuclear Energy: It’s Role in Combating Climate Change

FREE EVENT

Date: Sunday, April 14, 2024 Time: 1pm

Location: Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ , 1919 East Prospect St. , Sea, 98112

Washington needs to produce more energy. Our electric grid is under stress due to decreasing snowpack, increasing irrigation needs, more energy needed for transportation, AI, air conditioning/heating, etc.

In addition to our mix of solar, wind and hydro, how can nuclear energy be the clean solution to meet increasing demand? Come learn about nuclear power, how it works, the pros and cons, what to do about the waste, why it’s a vital piece to address climate change.

SPEAKER BIO: Nick Touran, PhD, PE, is a nuclear engineer who joined the field to help fight climate change. He has expertise in advanced nuclear reactor design, reactor development, and the history of nuclear power. After studying at the University of Michigan, he spent over a decade at TerraPower, LLC in Seattle working on core design, business support, software development, and configuration management.
Nick has been active in public education, and is the founder of whatisnuclear.com. He speaks at many schools and events, coordinated the digitization of numerous archival films, and was featured on both NPR’s Science Friday and the National Academy of Science’s Distinctive Voices series.
Outside of nuclear he enjoys paddle boarding in Lake Union, walking his dog (Waffles), hiking in the Cascades, and tweeting about nuclear energy.

Nuclear Now

Free Film: ‘Nuclear Now’ by Oliver Stone

After movie discussion: Dr. Nick Touran, nuclear engineer at TerraPower
Bring your questions!

Thur, March 7, 2024 at 6pm, Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University,

Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University

901 12th Ave · Seattle, Wa

Free registration: Nuclear Now Tickets, Thu, Mar 7, 2024 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite

Come watch ‘Nuclear Now’ by the iconic director Oliver Stone (‘JFK’, ‘Platoon’, ‘Natural Born Killers’). A compelling movie talking about why we have to include nuclear energy to mitigate climate change.

We don’t have time to pick our favorite clean energy source. “So, how can we lift billions of people from poverty while rapidly cutting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane — and, in many countries, coal? One clear solution is the inclusion of nuclear in the green energy mix, as engineers have been commercializing new, smaller nuclear reactor designs that can be mass-manufactured at low cost.” Oliver Stone


Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS)

Phone: 206-220-8400

Email: cietersy@seattleu.edu

Website: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/

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Seattle University Energy Symposium January 6th, 2024

Bill McKibben Dr. Charlyne Smith

Climate Action: Our Clean Energy Future Climate activist Bill McKibben will join us via Zoom to kick off a symposium on Our Clean Energy Future. We will also be joined by Dr. Charlyne Smith (Ph.D nuclear engineering) from the Breakthrough Institute who will lead a panel discussion on the role of nuclear power. Dr. James Conca and Scott Montgomery (UW, Jackson School of Intl. Studies) will join her. David Logsdon (Seattle City Light) will discuss the future of hydropower in Washington and Seattle’s grid resiliency.  Jennifer Grove (Dir. WA state Dept. of Commerce Clean Energy Fund) will discuss programs to reduce the energy burden on low income families.

Free, Registration at http://www.cleanenergyfuture.us/

By Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS)

Date and time : Saturday, January 6, 2024 · 9am – 12pm PST

Location : Pigott Auditorium 901 12th Avenue Pigott Building Seattle, WA 98122

Agenda

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM Coffee and pastries

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM Welcome

Dr. Phillip Thompson is the founding director of the Seattle University Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability. He is also a professor of environmental engineering who specializes in water and wastewater treatment and hazardous waste remediation.

9:15 AM – 9:50 AM The State of the Climate Crisis

Bill McKibben is an author, educator, and environmentalist, who helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, and who has recently helped found Third Act, to build a progressive organizing movement for people over the age of 60.

9:50 AM – 10:00 AM Break

10:00 AM – 10:40 AM Seattle’s Hydropower and Grid Resiliency

David Logsdon is Seattle City Light’s Director of Electrification and Strategic Technology. In this role David works with City leaders to achieve the strategic intent of deep decarbonization.

10:40 AM – 11:10 AM Opportunities for Solar from the Washington State Department of Commerce

Jennifer Grove serves as the Managing Director for the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund where she leads statewide initiatives and grant programs that aim to reduce the energy burden for low-income households and make clean energy technology accessible to all.

11:10 AM – 12:00 PM The Future of Nuclear Power – Panel Discussion

Dr. Charlyne Smith

Dr. James Conca

Scott Montgomery


Dr. Charlyne Smith is a Senior Nuclear Energy Analyst on the Nuclear Energy Innovation team at the Breakthrough Institute. Charlyne holds bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics, as well as a master’s and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. Dr. James Conca is a Trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation in the Tri-Cities, Washington. He has worked on nuclear and energy issues for 40 years at NASA, Washington State University, New Mexico State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Scott L. Montgomery is an author, geoscientist, and affiliate faculty in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and Department of Earth and Spaces, University of Washington. His books include Powers that Be: Global Energy for the 21st century and Beyond (2008) and Seeing the Light: The Case for Nuclear Power in the Twenty-First Century (2017).

Shipping Nuclear Power Out To Sea

WHAT: A talk about offshore nuclear power plants for rapid deep decarbonization
WHO: Nick Touran, Ph.D. (nuclear engineer), sponsored by Science On Tap
WHEN: Monday, July 31, 2023, come at 6pm for if you want to buy snacks or food, talk starts at 7pm (calendar link)
WHERE: Ravenna Third Place Books, Cafe Arta (map)

While meaningful decarbonization progress has been made, the magnitude of this task cannot be overstated. Deeply decarbonized electric grids in France, Ontario, and Sweden use large fractions of nuclear power, which is accepted as green by many major scientific institutions. Unfortunately, construction schedule slippage and cost overruns have been significant in recent nuclear builds, especially in the West. 

This talk will provide a brief overview of nuclear power, and focus on the concept of delivering nuclear power plants via shipyard-based reactor gigafactories. Once built, the plants can either be delivered by sea to a land-based site, or could be operated on floating platforms several kilometers offshore.

While perhaps surprising at first, this approach was seriously considered in the US in the 1970s and is regaining consideration today. This talk will take a deep dive into the historical and technical bases of floating nuclear plants and explore the modern projects focused on ramping them up for deep decarbonization.

FB event link here

Please note the timing! Cafe Arta is open on Monday only for the SoT event. Events are from 7-8pm, but seats go quickly so arrive early. Food can be ordered starting at 5:30pm, we encourage diners order prior to 6:30pm to receive food on time. Seating is limited and is first come, first served. We hope to see you there!

Washington State Energy, Climate Change & Nuclear Solutions

Bikersons Brewhouse

Wednesday / July 12, 2023 / 7pm

Bickersons Brewhouse 1514 Leary Way NW Ballard

Join Friends of Fission Northwest for a live event at Bickersons Brewhouse in Ballard.

We will start at 6:30pm with a Science Trivia contest with prizes
Washington’s energy needs are increasing, given climate change, growth and electrification. The solution is to be sure we include nuclear power in our clean energy mix. Join Dr. James Conca to learn how we can avoid blackouts and get to net-zero carbon emissions. Bring all your questions!
Dr. James Conca is a Geo-environmental scientist, specializing in nuclear waste, and an EPA/State environmental consultant. Trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation
Free and Live Streamed
Beers, soft drinks.
Children and dogs both welcome 

Friends of Fission Northwest and Town Hall Seattle present: Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023

Nuclear Energy, Climate Change, and Young Women in STEM

GET TICKETS

($5 – $20) 22 years old & under Free

Friday, May 26, 2023, 7:30PM, Doors open at 6:30PM for a Resource Fair in the Lobby

 Google  iCalendar

1119 Eighth Avenue (enter on Eighth Avenue), The Great Hall

Seattle, WA 98101

Google Maps Directions

This is an in-person event; no virtual attendance is available.

A conversation about nuclear energy, climate change, and inspiring young women to go into STEM fields.

On December 15, 2022, Grace Stanke, a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, studying nuclear engineering, took home the Miss America crown along with the scholarship of the Miss America Organization. She additionally won in a talent category for her classical violin performance.

As Miss America 2023, Grace is embarking on a year of service taking her on a tour across the country and she is using her national platform to continue advocating for “Clean Energy – Cleaner Future.” She believes that America needs to convert to zero-carbon energy with a focus on nuclear power and breaking down misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy.

Through it all, her goal is to inspire the next generation of female scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.

With increasing interest in, support for, and desire to become more informed about nuclear energy and how it can help mitigate climate change, combined with the wonderful goal of inspiring young women to enter the STEM fields, the evening promises to be interesting and inspiring. Scott Montgomery, University of Washington faculty from the Jackson School of International Studies, will be the interviewer for the event, and a Q&A will complete the evening. This special event is made possible by Friends of Fission Northwest and the generosity of our donors:

About Friends of Fission Northwest

Friends of Fission Northwest is a grassroots non-profit that, for more than six years, has brought speakers to the Puget Sound region and beyond. We strive to educate the public about the importance of nuclear energy, its value in fighting climate change, and to dispel myths and misinformation about nuclear power.


Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Friends of Fission Northwest

CLEAN & GREEN: GENERATION ATOMIC TALKS NUCLEAR ENERGY

Thursday/ March 2, 2023 / 7pm

Bickersons Brewhouse 1514 Leary Way NW, Ballard in Seattle 98107

Free and Live streamed. Beers and soda available. Black Star Kebab Food Truck (5-9pm)

Are you worried about what we can do about climate change? Listen to leading members of Generation Atomic: They have done street theater in Europe at COP, organized a march from San Francisco to Sacramento, CA, to save Diablo Canyon Nuclear plant, helped people testify at legislative hearings, given workshops on nuclear education and activism, and work in the field, on the creation of advanced nuclear reactors.

Eric Meyer, founder and executive director Generation Atomic, Council Member city of Falcon Heights, MN.

Heather Hoff, nuclear reactor operator(materials engineering), co-founder Mothers for Nuclear

Nick Touran, PHD, nuclear engineer, specializes in reactor physics, engineering automation, and core design, public education website, Whatisnuclear.com

Gene Grecheck, Experienced nuclear executive with hands-on accomplishments in all facets of commercial nuclear power generation: operations, engineering, licensing, training, security and emergency planning, new plant development, and nuclear safety review.

Canon Bryan, founding shareholder and CFO of Terrestrial Energy (molten salt reactor design scheduled for deployment in the late 2020s).

Messing with Mother Nature: Climate Change and Climate Engineering

In the Stratosphere

Thursday, January 26, 2023, 7pm

Please register for this Zoom presentation here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtduGpqjwuGN2ySMGEXf_tC75VmP0eW6ws

The scale of human activity on Earth is now large enough to alter global climate. The most significant activity is the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, particularly carbon dioxide, leading inevitably to a warmer climate. Given that human actions are leading to climate warming, one can conjecture that Earth’s climate can likewise be cooled by deliberate engineering. Of particular interest in the near term are actions that could lead to an increase in the reflection of solar radiation. Several such possible methods will be discussed using physical analogues and the results of complex global climate models. But, climate engineering research and potential deployment present ethical challenges in a number of unusual ways that must be considered as well. The intersection of climate engineering science, ethics, and governance is uncharted territory that requires careful and detailed study.

Speaker

Dr. Thomas Ackerman is Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. He was Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Director of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO; now CICOES) at the UW from 2007 to 2018. From 1999 through 2006, he served as the Chief Scientist of DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program and was a Battelle Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. He was Professor of Meteorology at the Pennsylvania State University from 1988 to 1999, as well as Associate Director of the Earth System Science Center. Dr. Ackerman is the recipient of the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and the Leo Szilard Award for Science in the Public Interest, awarded by the American Physical Society. He is a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union.

Dr. Ackerman’s research interests span a wide range of climate issues from fundamental science, such as the life cycle of tropical cirrus and aerosol-cloud interactions, to applied issues, such as the impacts of nuclear war on global climate and solar climate engineering. Dr. Ackerman has published more than 180 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

November 30, 2022: CLIMATE CHANGE, WASHINGTON ENERGY AND NUCLEAR SOLUTIONS

Live at Lagunitas Brewing Company 1550 NW 49th St./Ballard

Wednesday / November 30th / 7pm (PST)

Washington’s energy needs are increasing, given climate change, growth and electrification. The solution is to be sure we include nuclear power in our clean energy mix. Join Dr. James Conca to learn how we can avoid blackouts and get to net-zero carbon emissions. Bring all your questions!

Dr. James Conca is a Geo-environmental scientist, specializing in nuclear waste, and an EPA/State environmental consultant. Trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation

Free and Live Streamed (Facebook and Youtube)

Beers, soft drinks, full menu available.

Children and dogs both welcome