BERLIN—May 22, 2025—at Anschalt Konferenz, Carl Page of the Anthropocene Institute delivered a thought-provoking speech that reframed how we think about Earth’s future—and the role of nuclear power in securing it.

Page began by describing the Anthropocene Institute’s mission: to protect the "life support system" on our shared spaceship, Earth. “We’re all on a sun cruise together,” he said, likening Earth to a cruise ship. But while cruise ships have engineers ensuring comfort and safety, Earth does not—unless we step up and take on that responsibility.

Why Nuclear Stalled—and Why It Must Be Reimagined

Page recalled how nuclear energy was deeply unpopular in the 1980s when he was in college. Opposition came from both Democrats, who feared nuclear weapons proliferation and the arms race, and from the oil lobby, which opposed competition. As a result, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was created and structured to support incumbent utilities while blunting nuclear progress for the past 50 years.

He challenged the question “Are you pro-nuclear?” as outdated. Instead, he compared it to asking, “Are you pro-1975 VW Vanagon?”—a vehicle that’s unsafe, inefficient, and polluting by today’s standards. Regarding old nuclear plants: they may still be powerful, but the world needs new, safe, efficient, and affordable nuclear technologies.

Repowering the Grid with Hot, Dry, Factory-Made Reactors

Page stated that there’s no reason to continue to rely on coal for the next century, and that recently built gas plants have been important additions to the grid and should be kept running—but we must stop powering them with fossil fuels. Fortunately, he added, the turbines in these plants don't care what produces the steam—nuclear, helium, or coal all power the same infrastructure. Carl proposes repowering existing fossil-fuel plants with new, small, factory-built nuclear reactors.

These new reactors must be “hot and dry”—hot, meaning a 600°C output temperature, and dry, meaning no water touches the fuel. This allows for smaller, shippable designs that can be installed in just six months. China is already leading the way by starting work on converting one of their coal plants, from among their enormous fleet, to nuclear power. Carl believes Germany's world-class engineering could help it catch up—and possibly overtake China—if it restarts its nuclear program with new designs.

Out with the Old, In with the New and 10x Cheaper

Page emphasized the importance of restarting Germany’s nuclear program, adding that success requires embracing the beauty, safety, and efficiency of nuclear power alongside building a new generation of reactors with modern technology. Old designs—developed before the transistor era—are oversized partly because they relied on human operation. As Carl notes, just as modern planes rely on computers, not pilots, to land in bad weather, today’s reactors should be smaller, transportable, and resilient to human error.

Page’s ambitious goal? Make nuclear energy 10x cheaper than fossil fuels. While utilities resist this change, the benefits to humanity are manifold and cascading. When energy gets cheaper, other industries, including aviation and desalination, become cheaper and easier to decarbonize. Furthermore, when energy is cheap, humans will buy more, bolstering global economies.

A Call to Climate Action

Carl criticized current sustainability goals, warning that it is not enough—that we cannot “sustain collapse.” With atmospheric CO₂ at 420 ppm and rising, our goal must be to restore the climate, drawing carbon down to pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm. He believes nuclear power is essential for achieving climate restoration to ensure a comfortable and habitable planet for generations to come.

He closed by thanking the German audience, saying he felt "among friends." Carl’s vision is clear: the world needs safe, clean, affordable, and scalable energy. The future is not looking backward but forward and engineering a better tomorrow.