Ira Flatow, host of Science Friday, isn’t shying away from communicating the importance and value of science. Especially in a moment when research institutions in Utah and across the country are overshadowed by funding threats and frozen grants.
“We cannot be cowed by any pushback, we just have to keep getting the truth out there and talk about the value of science, the value of education, over and over again.”
In February, senior leadership at The University of Utah held a virtual town hall with 900 faculty and other researchers. The National Institute of Health had announced proposed funding cuts, and the university said that would reduce their research revenue by approximately $45 million.
Most of the NIH budget flows to universities and hospitals — or in the case of The University of Utah, both, since it is a major research university and hospital system. There are already concerns that funding interruptions could affect initiatives like cancer research or the university’s rural hub for cancer patients.
“When we talk now with researchers who are working in medicine or other life sciences, usually our last question to them is, ‘How is this new administration affecting your research, or the future of what you do?’” Flatow noted.
Beyond research worries and the state’s potential exposure to a reduced federal workforce, Utah is chasing the need for more electricity, even if it means keeping coal around. Flatow joined KUER’s Pamela McCall to talk about some of the issues that are hot in Utah.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Pamela McCall: The goal of Utah’s Operation Gigawatt is to double power production over the next 10 years, and that plan includes small nuclear reactors. How close do you think we are to these small reactors being viable?
Ira Flatow: The only thing that's holding them up is regulation. From what I see in my research, they have to be certified as being safe, but I really think it’s politics holding it up. That’s because I don’t think anybody wants a nuclear reactor in their backyard but these are a whole new generation of nuclear reactors that fit on a small piece of property and are safer than the older larger plants.
PM: Utah, Texas and a nuclear reactor company are suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The lawsuit argues that some of the small reactors shouldn’t need NRC approval. What are your thoughts on that?
IF: I’m not sure why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not regulate nuclear reactors, because that’s what it was created to do. I do see people who are still worried about the safety of small nuclear reactors and rightly so. But, if you look at the figures, fossil fuels have caused a lot more deaths than nuclear reactors have.
PM: On March 13, Yale University released their 2024 Climate Opinion Maps. When it comes to global warming, 58% of Utahns said they're worried about it. How does this figure strike you?
IF: I think it’s a great figure. If that survey had been done 10 years ago, people would have said global what? The majority of Americans now view it as something that's an existential threat to their existence. It's not climate change anymore, it's a climate crisis. You can’t deny what your eyes see when you see the forest fires, when you see the floods, when you see extra strong hurricanes.
PM: You’ll be in Utah this weekend: what appeals to you about the state from a science perspective?
IF: There are two things that appeal to me about Utah. My wife and I have explored all the great parks in the southeast and southwest of Utah. We’ve been to all of them. I mean, I'm a rock hound. I love to see the rocks. But I also like to talk about the dinosaurs. You know, there was a time hundreds of millions of years ago — there was a central ocean that goes through the southwest — Colorado, Utah — and there were great swamps and things there. And now you can dig up all the remnants of that and discover them. And it's just so fascinating to me.
Ira Flatow and the rest of the Science Friday team will be at the Eccles Theater in Downtown Salt Lake City March 29.
Editor’s note: KUER is a licensee of The University of Utah but operates as an editorially independent news organization.