December 18, 2004: Nuclear Reactors - Dr. Charles Till

Can nuclear power provide a safe solution to America's growing energy crisis? Dr. Charles Till, the physicist responsible for Canada's first commercial nuclear reactor, brings decades of hands-on experience to examine our nation's nuclear future. Till discusses his groundbreaking work at Argonne National Laboratory developing the Integral Fast Reactor, a revolutionary design that could solve nuclear power's most persistent problems by efficiently burning fuel, eliminating long-term waste, and preventing weapons proliferation. The conversation explores why this promising technology was cancelled in 1994, comparing different reactor designs from Canada, the US, and Russia, and examining lessons learned from Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. With America facing desperate energy needs and mounting environmental concerns, Till argues that advanced nuclear technology represents our best hope for large-scale clean power generation. Could the future of energy lie not in avoiding nuclear power, but in finally perfecting it?