Fukushima changed everything. When the March 2011 tsunami destroyed four of six nuclear reactors at the Japanese power plant, the world stopped in its tracks to rethink the viability of nuclear energy, a power source that till then had been gaining advocates globally. So when the Stanford Energy Club began developing the idea of producing a journal focused on energy and environmental topics, it seemed fitting to choose "The Future of Nuclear Energy" as the theme of its first issue. On March 31, the semiannual online Stanford Energy Journal debuted.
Conceived and run by students from engineering, business, policy and science programs, the journal features op-ed-style articles from leaders in industry, government and academia—some of whom are alumni—as well as students. In the inaugural issue, six Stanford graduate students write on topics ranging from nuclear waste issues in Europe, the United States and Taiwan to scientific advances in India. Alumni contributors weigh in on new strategies for public engagement, and on the risks involved in financing nuclear projects. Other articles cover fusion, China's nuclear program, advances in reactor design and lessons learned from nuclear accidents.
Nobel laureate and emeritus professor Burton Richter, director emeritus of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, provides an introductory overview of the journal, the post-Fukushima state of play for nuclear energy and the prospects of a "nuclear renaissance."
