CNN’s FAREED ZAKARIA GPS features an interview with Co-founder & CEO of the Transatomic Power Corporation, Leslie Dewan. Dewan speaks to Fareed about her aspirations to build a carbon-free, sustainable, and scalable nuclear reactor to generate great quantities of electricity.
TEXT HIGHLIGHTS
Dewan on the repercussions of conventional nuclear power: “So each conventional nuclear power plant in the U.S. today produces about 20 metric tons of high-level waste that’s radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.”
Dewan on government funding of nuclear technology: “I think that for now, the U.S. is still leading the world in nuclear technology. But one of my biggest concerns is that that won’t always be the case.”
A full transcript of the interview is available after the jump
FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: PRESIDENT OBAMA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED BIG PLANS TO CUT CARBON EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS. WILL THIS BE A DEATH BLOW TO FOSSIL FUELS AND CO2 EMISSIONS? WELL, NO. UNDER THESE NEW RESTRICTIONS, CARBON-EMITTING COAL AND NATURAL GAS ARE STILL EXPECTED TO MAKE UP AROUND TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICAN ELECTRICITY IN 2030.
SO IT LED ME TO WONDER, IS THERE ANOTHER WAY? MY NEXT GUEST SAYS YES. LESLIE DEWAN IS COFOUNDER AND CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER OF TRANSATOMIC POWER. SHE’S ONE OF “TIME’S” 30 PEOPLE UNDER 30 CHANGING THE WORLD.
Continue reading the Transcript
