European Nuclear Energy 2026 (Stockholm) — February 25, 2026 — Anthropocene Institute President Carl Page delivered a keynote at European Nuclear Energy 2026 calling for a far more ambitious climate objective: not simply reaching net-zero emissions, but restoring the Earth’s climate to pre-industrial carbon levels through abundant clean energy and technological innovation. 

Page challenged the audience to think far beyond incremental climate policy and look to the fundamental physics of the universe for inspiration. His answer: there is no greater source of energy and resources than nucleosynthesis as seen in solar fusion and, far more energetically, within the swan song of a supernova. The future is full of potential, but we won’t know what’s possible until we try, and shooting for compromise is admitting defeat before even getting started. This applies to the world’s carbon issue: as aiming only for net-zero emissions and planning for adaptation or mitigation is too timid an approach, when our goal should be climate restoration and drawing down carbon atmospheric levels to pre-industrial levels rather than simply maintaining the current, deadly status quo. 

Health, Wealth, Security, Climate: The Case for Nuclear

Page placed climate concerns within a broader hierarchy of global priorities: Health, Wealth, Security, and Climate, arguing that nuclear energy is foundational to supporting all four.

Page began with a stark health statistic: fossil fuel pollution contributes to roughly one death in every thousand people globally each year. Air pollution from fossil fuels is linked to cancer, respiratory illness, and heart disease, making the transition to cleaner energy not only a climate issue, but a public health imperative. Page pointed to France’s rapid nuclear build-out in the 1980s as proof that a largely fossil-free electricity system is achievable. Yet nearly one-third of all atmospheric carbon emissions have occurred since that era, underscoring how much further the world still needs to go. In contrast, he stated that, while nuclear may not be perfect, it is "a million times better than fossil fuels" and proposed a goal exceeding Paris, France’s 70% nuclear, 26% renewables grid, by also producing synthetic hydrocarbon transportation fuels using nuclear power plants.

Addressing the economic and ethical dimensions of energy access, Page countered the conventional environmentalist argument that "the cheapest energy you can possibly have is the energy that you never made." Instead, he countered, "The opposite is true. Because the most expensive energy you can ever make is the energy you failed to make when you had a moral and ethical responsibility," to help the world develop. He asserted that access to energy is the single most effective healthcare measure for developing economies, surpassing even medicine or surgery and access to energy is the best way for a nation to grow its wealth.

Page also argued that dependence on fossil fuels carries profound geopolitical consequences. Competition for oil resources has fueled numerous conflicts since World War II, he said, suggesting that a world powered primarily by nuclear energy could reduce many of these “artificial conflicts.”

More Power, Not Less

Page rejected the idea that solving climate change requires using less energy. Historically, human progress has been tied to using more energy, not less. The challenge, he argued, is to make energy clean and dramatically cheaper. If energy costs fell by a factor of ten, he suggested, global consumption could expand twenty-fold—unlocking large-scale projects such as environmental cleanup, desalination, and carbon removal. He envisioned energy systems that approach “200% efficiency” by turning waste streams into useful products: recycling trash, eliminating combustion, and replacing land-intensive biofuels with nuclear-powered industrial processes.

Hot, Dry, Manufactured Reactors: The Future of Nuclear

But not all nuclear technology is made equal, as Page pointed out that the technology used by our current fleet is about 50 years outdated. Page outlined the three most important attributes for the next generation of nuclear power, which he believes will revolutionize the industry:

Hot: Operating at 600°C for heat transfer, for transitioning current coal and gas plants to nuclear, chemistry, district heating, and thermal storage. 

Dry: Utilizing dry fuel to avoid containment structures and exclusion zones, a safety measure that prevents water-related accidents like Fukushima. This design would shrink the reactor footprint, allowing it to be integrated alongside industrial buildings.

Manufactured: Emphasizing that new technology is cheaper than old, Page argued that a lack of manufacturing infrastructure is the primary cost driver for nuclear. He extrapolated from the 99% price drop in solar panels over 40 years, noting that nuclear innovation was "halted by Regulatory Fiat in 1975," preventing the industrial streamlining that usually occurs over the decades. Manufacturing reactors would accelerate construction, reduce costs, and increase quality.

Beyond Net-Zero: Climate Restoration

Page criticized the widespread net-zero by 2050 goal as inadequate and defeatist, stating that the climate is already dangerously affected by atmospheric CO2 levels at 420 ppm, well above pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm. He urged that 420 ppm is unsustainable and the evidence all around us is already clear. However, while the state of the climate is important, he expressed greater concern for ocean acidification, caused by carbonic acid drawn down from excess atmospheric carbon. This immediate crisis, which is already impacting ecosystems and fisheries, is far harder to quantify and the consequences are not yet known. The ocean is a living network of complex systems, and disruption could cause collapse to the global food web, starting with vulnerable phytoplankton. 

To save our climate and our oceans, Page asserted, the world must push for climate restoration, to “fix what we broke instead of sitting on the scrap of a broken world.” He stressed that we will not know what is possible until we try. That engineers should be listened to for solutions to protect earth’s climate with a comfortable safety margin. Page closed with a call for urgency. The transition away from fossil fuels will eventually happen, he said. The real question is whether the world chooses to accelerate that transition now—before the costs of delay grow even higher.