One of the coolest experiences in life is being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people who are dedicating their careers to making the world a better place. That’s why I loved going to Climate Week so much. There were executives at major corporations, advocates for non-profits, communications staffers at nuclear energy trade associations, and everything in between.
As someone who works in the nuclear energy industry, I thought attending would be a great opportunity to connect with folks who don’t know much about nuclear—or are even skeptical about nuclear. And as a communicator, I thought it would be a great opportunity to hear people's stories and to better learn how to connect with everyone I meet.
On a personal note, I had the opportunity to bop around New York City for the week checking out different panels, workshops, film screenings, and more. This, frankly, inspired me. Chatting with folks who work in different industries, like solar energy or sustainable construction, and learning about how they’re looking to help the world make the shift to clean energy served as a pleasant reminder that there is a lot being done globally to help our climate.
From the perspective of NEI and the nuclear energy industry, it was also an incredible week. We happened to have space at the Nest Climate Campus at the Javits Center where folks could come learn about nuclear energy, interact with a virtual reality (VR) kit, see a Geiger counter demo, play trivia, spot a Labubu, and maybe even chat with a former Miss America. Before you ask, I did not know what a Labubu was until about a week ago. But we had one, and its name was Marie Curie.
I’m sure the VR kit caught your attention just now. We were lucky enough to have the Southern Nuclear Virtual Reality (VR) Experience at the Nest! It was a 3D immersive walk-through of a commercial nuclear reactor . It allowed people to learn how a reactor, turbine generator, electrical switchyard, and cooling tower work and hear from employees about how significant this generation source is to our future.
While we’ve come a long way as an industry in undoing the myths and misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy, there are still a lot of people who think that there’s green goo involved or that it’s not clean energy (both wrong!) There are also a lot of folks out there who don’t fully understand how radiation works, which is totally understandable. That’s why we brought a Geiger counter with us. This handy little tool let us show people how radiation is all around us and how it’s not inherently scary.
Since Climate Week is such a great opportunity to share knowledge, we even hosted some nuclear trivia in our space with former Miss America Grace Vanderhei. As a nuclear engineer and advocate (and just wonderful person), it was great to see Grace connect with folks from all over and teach everyone about how clean and safe nuclear really is.
A lot of people have been asking me about my favorite moment from Climate Week, and I just keep thinking of the conversations I had with folks from all over the globe. Everyone was curious and genuinely eager to learn, and it’s because of individuals like them that gave me hope.
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