America Needs to Go Nuclear. Plus. . .

It’s Wednesday, August 20. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: A scientist who worked for the Obama administration explains why he switched his stance on climate change. Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney who quit her job after President Trump told her to drop corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams, speaks out. And the secret history of air-conditioning.

But first: Why America needs to go nuclear.

America needs more energy—and fast. From the massive data centers we need to compete with China in the AI race, to the air-conditioning we consume all summer, this country devours power.

And yet the U.S. energy grid is weak, vulnerable, and in some cases, unreliable. Last month, the White House warned that increased demand could cause a surge in power outages by 2030. And just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that blackouts have been prevented in Texas, California, and New England only because of a boom in Americans getting household batteries as backup.

The Chinese grid, in contrast, is highly advanced and built for the future.

So, how can we boost our supply of energy?

As Sean Fischer reports in today’s lead piece, some people see nuclear as “the most perfect form of energy ever discovered”—and the answer to America’s power prayers.

But here’s some more bad news: America is reliant on Russia for the enriched uranium we need to power our existing nuclear plants. And, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration placed a ban on importing it, set to take effect in 2028.

Since then, Sean writes, America has been scrambling to find a solution. And here’s the good news: The private sector has stepped up. This month, a scrappy start-up opened America’s first private uranium enrichment facility of the twenty-first century, in Paducah, Kentucky. To find out how, read Sean’s great piece.

Nuclear used to have a terrible reputation, but in recent years it’s attracted some cheerleaders—including Isabelle Boemeke, a Brazilian model who has become, in her words, the “world’s first nuclear energy influencer.”

For our second piece, Suzy Weiss speaks to Boemeke, who has a new book called Rad Future—in which she aims to sell “climate-anxious” Gen Zers on why more nuclear power won’t lead to more Chernobyls and Fukushimas, but rather a world where “everybody who wants to have access to electricity at any given time does.” She calls it energy abundance. But will young people really buy the ideas she’s selling?

—The Editors

• The Israeli government is weighing whether to agree to a ceasefire plan Hamas has reportedly accepted. The agreement, mediated by diplomats from Egypt and Qatar, comes after Israel announced its intention to occupy Gaza City, and would institute a 60-day ceasefire in return for half of the Israeli hostages still held by the terror group. Israel has been insistent that all of Hamas’s hostages must be released for the war to end.

• Republican congressman James Comer said that Trump’s Department of Justice will begin to release files related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein to the House Oversight Committee. At the FBI, amid Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s public feud with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Epstein files, Trump appointed a new deputy director to work alongside Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel.

• Amid rumors that the Trump administration will buy a 10 percent stake in the U.S. chip manufacturer Intel, the Japanese investment firm Softbank invested $2 billion in the embattled American firm. Investors interpreted Softbank’s move as a vote of confidence, and Intel’s stock price rose after a period of decline.

• The Air Force’s chief of staff, General David Allvin, abruptly announced he plans to retire early just halfway into his four-year term, providing no specific reason. Allvin is the fourth senior military official to resign in Trump’s second term.

• President Trump indicated the U.S. could provide a security guarantee for Ukraine “by air” while insisting that American ground troops would not be deployed to the country. Speaking on Fox & Friends, Trump said Ukraine “is not going to be a part of NATO, but we’ve got the European nations, and they’ll frontload it.” The statements come as Trump and European leaders look for a peace deal that would end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

• Several cases of tuberculosis have appeared at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers this summer, including several hospitalizations and one death. Critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policies say overcrowding and poor sanitation are to blame.

• Hurricane Erin, a Category 2 storm, is spinning up dangerous currents along the East Coast, even though it is not expected to make landfall. Wrightsville Beach, a town in North Carolina, has had to rescue some 75 people from rip currents so far and has issued a no-swimming advisory.

• Former governor and current New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo told supporters at a Southampton fundraiser over the weekend that Trump and other leading Republicans will tell voters to abandon Curtis Sliwa, the GOP candidate for the job. He also said that, should he be elected mayor, he expects to have a good relationship with the president. A spokesman for Cuomo, however, said that the campaign is not looking for Trump’s help.

• With Britain’s Labour government toying with the idea of a new wealth tax, more than half of the country’s millionaires say they may leave the country if the tax is enacted, according to a survey by Arton Capital, a financial advisory firm. The U.S. tops the list of countries the British millionaires say they might flee to, followed by Canada, Australia, and the UAE.