A panel of industry, civic and academic leaders will discuss safety concerns, technical issues and policy perspectives in a UC Irvine forum titled “How Safe Is Nuclear Power? Implications for San Onofre.” Speakers at the event are William Parker, UCI professor and chair of physics & astronomy; Daniel Hirsch, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer on nuclear policy; Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran; and Mark Nelson, director of generation planning & strategy at Southern California Edison.

University Club (grid H7, bldg. 801 on campus map: http://today.uci.edu/pdf/UCI_11_map_campus_core.pdf)

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which once supplied power to more than a million homes in Southern California, was shut down in January, after a tube carrying radioactive water sprang a leak, releasing a small amount of radioactive steam. Since then, plant workers, anti-nuclear activists and area residents have been at odds over the future of the facility.

The panel is presented by UCI’s Newkirk Center for Science & Society and the School of Social Ecology’s Department of Planning, Policy & Design. The center, established in 2001 with an endowment from Martha and James Newkirk, aims to improve scientific response to community needs and increase the use of science to benefit society.