Miss America Pursuing a Career in Nuclear Energy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jan. 16, 2023 - PRLog -- MADISON, WI – Newly-crowned Miss America 2023 wants to use her platform to counter public fears and misconceptions about nuclear energy which she says should become the largest contributor to America's electrical energy supply in the years ahead.

Grace Stanke, who won the Miss America title in December, is a nuclear engineering major at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. In an interview with the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast this week, Stanke told host Michael Butler that she plans to seek a career in the nuclear industry after graduation.

"I knew I wanted a career in engineering since I was 16," she said. "I just didn't know what kind." She narrowed her choices to aerospace and nuclear engineering but was pushed toward nuclear by a kind of challenge thrown down by her father.

"He advised me not to go into nuclear because he didn't see it as a growth industry," Stanke said. "My Dad is a civil engineer, and I respect him a lot, but the challenge was just too much.  Sixteen year old me flipped my hair over my shoulder and said 'watch me'."

Stanke says her dad, who fought two bouts with cancer, is alive today thanks to nuclear medicine and successful treatment with radioisotopes.

"The nuclear industry has so many brilliant people behind the scenes working on the technology and the science," she said. "But we don't have enough people communicating between the engineers and scientists and the general public.

"We need more communicators, more journalists, more elected officials with knowledge in nuclear energy," she said. "We need all hands on deck, not only to develop the technology but to build public understanding and acceptance."

With only three other female nuclear engineers in her graduating class, Stanke encourages other women to consider nuclear as a career.

"Nuclear engineering is a melting pot of all kinds of engineering," she said. "There's a little bit of electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering in this field of study.  The variety keeps it interesting."

Stanke also has created her perfect energy mix for the nation's future.

"Right now 20% of our grid is being powered by nuclear, but I would like to see that grow," she said. "My ideal energy portfolio is the majority powered by nuclear—anywhere from 50 to 60 percent. A combination of wind, solar, biomass, geothermal could make up another 30 percent. The remainder would come from hydroelectric and some fossil fuels."

Produced and hosted by Michael Butler, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report (www.gonefissionpodcast.com) covers the latest developments in environmental cleanup across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. DOE is now engaged in the largest environmental remediation program in history, cleaning up nuclear production sites across the U.S. that were used to support national security missions for 75 years.

"Some of the work on these sites dates back to the super-secret Manhattan Project, a national priority to develop the first atomic bomb that helped end World War II," Butler said. "Cleanup of these sites is a multi-decade effort, requiring thousands of trained professionals and highly skilled crafts people with budgets in the billions of dollars."

Gone Fission Nuclear Report is ranked in the Top 100 in Apple's Business News category which contains over 2,000 podcasts.

Contact
Michael L Butler
***@cprgconsulting.com
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