Since the dawn of the atomic age, humanity has struggled with the inherent duality of atomic fission, with its awesome power to either benefit or obliterate life on earth. Waves of optimism and despair have been driven by the threat of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their possible use, and by the hopes of a prodigious carbon-free energy source that has stumbled and lost public confidence in the process.

In this Energy Policy Seminar, Daniel Poneman, Belfer Center Senior Fellow and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, will consider the question: In today's turbulent environment, can the benefits of nuclear energy be secured without unleashing its terrors?