Join this discussion on nuclear energy and small modular reactors (SMRs), with a focus on their status in Canada, and the climate vulnerability of nuclear plants. The presentations will draw upon the 2021 World Nuclear Industry Status Report.
Please RSVP. The Zoom link will be emailed to all registrants in advance of the event.
Welcome Remarks: Prajna Singh, Student, Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Moderator: Allison Macfarlane, Director, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC
Speakers:
- Mycle Schneider, Convening Lead Author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Reports
- Ali Ahmad, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program, Harvard Kennedy School
- M. V. Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC
Bios:
Mycle Schneider works as independent international analyst and consultant on energy and nuclear policy, based in Paris. He is the initiator and Convening Lead Author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Reports. He is a Founding Board Member and Spokesperson of the International Energy Advisory Council. In 2007, he was appointed as a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), based at Princeton University, USA. He is a Founding Member of the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group (INRAG) and is a member of the International Nuclear Security Forum (INSF), hosted at the Stimson Center, Washington, D.C. In 1997, he was honored with the Right Livelihood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”).
Ali Ahmad is a Research Fellow studying energy policy at Harvard Kennedy School’s Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program. His research interests include energy security and resilience and the political economy of nuclear energy in newcomer markets, with focus on the Middle East. Prior to joining MTA, Ali served as Director of the Energy Policy and Security Program at the American University of Beirut. From 2013 to 2016, Ali was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security where he worked on informing nuclear diplomacy with Iran. Outside academia, Ali is a senior consultant at the World Bank advising the Energy and Extractive Industries Global Practice. Ali holds a first degree in Physics from the Lebanese University and a PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University.
M.V. Ramana is Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. He is also Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues. He is the author of The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India and co-editor of Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream. Ramana is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, the Canadian Pugwash Group, the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group, and the team that produces the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report.
Dr. Allison M. Macfarlane is Professor and Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs within the Faculty of Arts at UBC. Her research has focused on technical, social, and policy aspects of nuclear energy production and nuclear waste management and disposal as well as regulation, nuclear nonproliferation, and energy policy. Dr. Macfarlane has held both academic and government positions in the field of energy and environmental policy, especially nuclear policy. Most recently, she directed the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University. The first geologist (and the third woman) to chair the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2012-2014, Dr. Macfarlane holds a doctorate in earth science from MIT and a bachelor’s of science from the University of Rochester.
Event Poster
Hosted by: The School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), University of British Columbia
