avery_schwab

not on the panel disclosure I would say the first step to encouraging the use a nuclear in your area is to get an idea of what your energy mix currently looks like. Maybe you have a plant nearby that can use support at NRC community meetings, on local news channels, or just in the general public perception. But if you dont have any plants close by you probably have gas or coal plants close by. A great way to start is to just get in contact with your local and state politicians(I know i try to email or call as often as a I can). If you are looking to go a more direct approach i believe you can email companies directly, just to say that you hope they would consider your community for a future project. Chances are if there are coal plants nearby, they will have to be replaced in the near future. So try to push for nuclear to be the replacement!

I think the right answer(though i don't like it), is that it already has received a bad public perception. Most of this perception is due to the fear mongering of nuclear incidents(Chernobyl, Fukashima, TMI, etc.) and the lack of understanding that the general public has of nuclear power. The issue is that Nuclear power is so often grouped with Nuclear weapons, which alone can lead to a negative perception. I think another huge factor to this is the fact that whenever there is an incident at a nuclear plant it becomes big news, even though it may be a minor event or not harmful at all to the public. In contrast, when there is an incident at a fossil fuel plant, or a solar or wind farm, those incidents rarely make any publicity. I think the nuclear industry is partially to blame for this. Most plant owners dont do great with helping this. People want transparency and the ability to understand. So plants acting secretive or making enemies will never be a solutions to this problems. Owners should be hosting public events about their plants and reassuring the public on how safe their plant, and nuclear power in general really is.

*not on the panel disclosure* The best way to critique them would most likely be pointing out the obvious, the fact that they want to get rid of the biggest carbon free energy source. Now as soon as you bring this up you most likely will get backlash(usually pertaining to waste or past accidents). So it is best to be prepared to defend your opinion as most people aren't knowledgeable on nuclear power. There are great examples of countries using nuclear to decarbonize their country(France, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, etc.). Where there are no examples of countries being successful using only renewables and gas(Germany and California(even tho its not a country)). Good Luck!

not on panel disclosure I dont think you are missing too much. Nuclear power will be an awesome pair with carbon capture plants! Also, nuclear power has the awesome ability to be used for desalination plants. With water becoming more and more important every day, harnessing the 99 percent of water that we havent had access to will be extremely important to the future of our world.