Stony Brook Airs National Broadcast on Nuclear Energy's Role in Climate

Stony Brook University’s Collaborative for the Earth (C4E) released a national broadcast special distributed by American Public Media that examines nuclear energy’s role in addressing climate change and growing U.S. energy demand. The program, published on university sites Jan. 14, 2026 and produced and reported by J.D. Allen with contributions from Stony Brook communications and journalism partners, will be available to participating stations from January through April 2026.

Hosted by Heather Lynch, director of C4E, the special draws on material from C4E’s Second Annual Stony Brook Global Environmental Forum on nuclear energy, which took place on Governors Island in April 2025. The broadcast explores the history of nuclear power in the United States, safety and waste management concerns, geopolitical considerations and the central question of whether nuclear energy should be part of climate solutions.

The program includes perspectives from Stony Brook faculty and external experts at universities, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Union of Concerned Scientists and industry analysts. Rather than offering simple answers, the special aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and to probe whether nuclear energy is necessary to meet climate goals and whether it can be deployed safely and quickly enough to matter for near-term decarbonization efforts.

For Suffolk County listeners, the broadcast brings a national conversation to a local audience. Decisions about energy supply and climate policy at the state and regional level influence electricity costs, job opportunities in energy sectors, and planning by municipalities and utilities that serve Long Island. Safety and waste management remain local concerns when policy shifts would affect transportation routes, emergency preparedness and community engagement. Stony Brook’s role in producing a nationally distributed program positions a local research institution as a convening force in those debates.

The special also provides material useful to policymakers, county officials and civic groups seeking a fuller picture of technical and regulatory trade-offs. By assembling regulatory, academic and industry voices, the program supplies context that can inform public hearings, planning sessions and the county’s own climate strategies.

The broadcast will be carried by participating public radio stations through April 2026. Its immediate effect is to broaden the information available to Suffolk residents and stakeholders; its longer-term impact will depend on how local leaders and utilities use that information in policy decisions about energy mix, infrastructure investment and community safety planning.