In the thought-provoking documentary NUCLEAR NOW, iconic director Oliver Stone explores the possibility for the global community to overcome challenges like climate change, ensure our continued survival and reach a brighter future through the power of nuclear energy.

Readers of this blog will see many familiar faces in the film as well as new voices in new places telling the story of nuclear energy.

Coming to Theaters April 28, 2023. https://nuclearnowfilm.com #NuclearNowFilm

• YouTube trailer
• Where to see the film

Film Summary

Beneath our feet, Uranium atoms in the Earth’s crust hold incredibly concentrated energy. Science unlocked this energy in the mid-20th century, first for bombs and then to power submarines. The United States led the effort to generate electricity from this new source.

Yet in the mid-20th century as societies began the transition to nuclear power and away from fossil fuels, a long-term PR campaign to scare the public began, funded in part by coal and oil interests. This campaign had the objective to sow fear about low-level radiation and create confusion between nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.

Looking squarely at the problem, Oliver Stone shows us that knowledge is the antidote to fear, and our human ingenuity will allow us to solve the climate change crisis if we will use it.

Film Writers

Joshua Goldstein – Professor Joshua S. Goldstein is an award-winning scholar of international relations who has written and spoken widely on war and society, including war’s effects on gender, economics, and psychological trauma, and on peace and diplomacy.

Goldstein is coauthor (with Jon C. Pevehouse) of the widely used textbook ‘International Relations‘. His new book, A Bright Future (with Staffan Qvist) is on international responses to climate change, especially Sweden’s success in rapid decarbonization using nuclear power.

See also the Neutron Bytes Nuclear Energy Reading List for the Curious which includes Prof. Goldstein’s book.

Oliver Stone – (Director / Co-Writer) – A fixture within the industry for almost 40 years, Oliver Stone is a director, screenwriter, producer and best-selling author. Stone won his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Midnight Express (1978) and won his second and third as Best Director for Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) respectively.

Other notable projects include Wall Street (1987), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), W. (2008), Savages (2012) and 2016’s Snowden, along with the screenplay for Brian De Palma’s 1983 film Scarface which went on to become one of the most iconic films in history.

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