MSU Wonderlust to host May 21 online presentation on the history and future of nuclear power
MSU News Service
BOZEMAN — Montana State University Wonderlust will host a free online public lecture about nuclear power generation from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 21. “What Happened to Nuclear Power?” will be presented by Gerald Geise, an MSU alumnus in chemical engineering with more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry.
Geise will discuss the history, current status and probable future of nuclear-powered electrical generating stations. In 1954 Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, predicted that electricity generated by nuclear power would quickly become so economical that “it would be too cheap to measure.” From 1955 to 1985, hundreds of nuclear-powered generating stations were built all over the world.
Gerald Geise, an MSU alumnus in chemical engineering with more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry, will discuss the history, current status and probable future of nuclear-powered electrical generating stations.
However, Geise argues that democratic societies are now facing the beginning of the end of nuclear power generating stations. At the same time, Russia and China are becoming major suppliers of nuclear-powered generating stations for those countries that still have an interest in building and operating their own.
Among his many occupations and accolades, Geise held key engineering and management positions at the Hanford Atomic Products Operation in Richland, Washington, including serving as operations manager in charge of the world’s largest dual-purpose plutonium and electrical nuclear generating station. He trained naval personnel in the operation of nuclear submarines at General Electric in Idaho Falls, Idaho and served as president of a division of United Nuclear Corporation in Connecticut that made nuclear reactors for the U.S. Navy.
Participants must register for the lecture by May 20 at www.montana.edu/wonderlust/. Upon registration confirmation, participants will receive an email with the Webex link and instructions to join the program.
The presentation will be recorded and available online. Interested individuals can sign up for Wonderlust’s mailing list at www.montana.edu/wonderlust/newsletter/ to be notified when it is accessible.
Wonderlust is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach at MSU. ATO works across the university to support and advance its land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement. •
