Fuels Paradise

In the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico—arguably America's worst environmental disaster—does nuclear power look any more appealing than it did after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979? Or are wind- and solar-power America's safest energy alternatives to fossil fuel? Michael Corradini, chair of Engineering Physics and the Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at UW-Madison, and Jane Davidson, chair in Renewable Energy and director of the Solar Energy Laboratory at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, discuss how the science surrounding these technologies developed over the last several decades, and what science tells us about the pros and cons of these energy systems. Recorded on October 7, 2010, at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Lecture Hall.