Transforming Images of Nuclear Waste in the United States

At the turn of the millennium, proclamations of an imminent nuclear energy renaissance began to populate newspaper headlines, political circles, and energy trend forecasts. Twenty years later, many of the new technologies that spurred such lofty declarations have come to fruition–but the predictions themselves have not. Despite its coveted “clean energy” label, decades of dependable operations, and an emerging generation of safer and cheaper “advanced” reactors, Americans remain, at best, ambivalent towards nuclear power. 

Caleigh Andrews is a senior in the Walsh School of Foreign Service studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a focus on Energy and Environment. She is particularly interested in nuclear technologies, especially as they relate to energy generation and environmental justice.