Education

The New Republican podcast features ANS policy guru John Starkey

April 16, 2021, 7:02AMANS News

Starkey

ANS government relations director John Starkey was a recent guest on the podcast The New Republican. Starkey discussed a range of topics with podcast host Lincoln Wallis in the 30-minute episode, “All Things Nuclear.”

“In 2020, nuclear energy became the second-largest source of electricity in the United States,” Starkey said in response to Wallis’s first question, adding, “That would entail nearly 20 percent of electric generation in the U.S. Nuclear energy has also operated at 90 percent capacity rate for the past 20 years or so. No other source of electricity can touch those [capacity] numbers.… I really see [nuclear energy] being a leader in decarbonization in the country and the world.”

Other topics: Wallis and Starkey packed a lot into a relatively short time. Much of the conversation dealt with topics surrounding waste management and radiation—a pair of nuclear’s biggest obstacles in winning over the general public. The two also discussed nuclear’s role in the Biden administration, including its inclusion in a section of the Build Back Better initiative.

In addition, Starkey mentioned the CLEAN Future Act, a provision of which includes the Department of Energy entering at least one long-term power purchase agreement with an advanced nuclear reactor.

Tags:
ans staffbiden administrationbuild back better initiativeclean future actjohn starkeypodcastspublic policywaste management
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