This is my second podcast with Grace Stanke, Miss America for 2023, and she was in Dubai for COP28. Several other interviews around COP28 are getting teed up, and it should be fun.It was phenomenal also to produce an interview with Grace for Rey Trevino on the Crude Truth.
We got an entirely different feel for COP than what the regular news media puts out with having a conversation with “boots on the ground.” Grace had a great story about the nuclear reactor right outside of Dubai that was finished on time and within budget. That reactor is now supplying 25% of the UAE’s electricity. This is huge. Helping the markets through good regulations and regulatory processes will help the world get to net zero.
Legislation through regulations will not help the energy markets nor help the United States hit any climate goals committed.
Thank you, Grace, for your leadership, nuclear advocacy, and great year as the reigning Miss America. You are always welcome on the Energy News Beat podcast to help share your insights on energy and our next generation of energy leaders.
01:37 – Highlights global commitment to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, stressing reliability, emissions-free nature, and widespread cross-sector support.
03:16 – Tell us a little bit about that new reactor.
04:08 – How do we get the regulators or the people running the regulations and permitting to the United States?
04:37 – Discusses her role at the World Nuclear Expo at Cop 28, noting the enthusiasm of 40-50 nuclear youth advocates.
07:09 – What’s the blue zone versus the red zone in Cop28
10:29 – Tell us what your thoughts for Dubai.
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Stuart Turley [00:00:03] Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Energy News Meet podcast. My name’s Do Turley Presidency of the Sandstone Group. Did you hear anything about Cop 28 going on out there? There were 22 countries that were actually signing on to a huge deal. Well, we happen to have great steak. She is the Miss America for 2023. She has already been on the Energy News Meet podcast and she is in Dubai. Welcome, Grace.
Grace Stanke [00:00:37] Oh, is dude so excited to be back online and of course to talk about all things nuclear, all things Cop 28. It’s really been a tremendous time here in Dubai for Cop 28.
Stuart Turley [00:00:48] Well, thank you, sir, for taking the time. I’ll tell you, I really enjoyed our our last talk. It is great seeing your eyes light up. I mean, not just because you’re nuclear powered. It’s because you have such a passion for the energy change. Now, tell us what’s going on, because the Cop 28 is different because the oil guys showed up in force. Then you had the the oil guys saying, well, our farmers, the reason everybody’s fat, you know, So they were there were some real words going on between the oil guys and the renewable guys. But it seems like everybody’s happy with nuclear. Is that a fair statement?
Grace Stanke [00:01:37] Why? You know, I think I’d say everybody’s happy with nuclear. There’s always going to be people out there that are like anti-nuclear. Right. Of course. I’m kind of like there’s 10% of the population that I’m just like, I’m not you know, this isn’t this isn’t worth the time. But it’s been really exciting because here at Cobb, as you talked about briefly, you know, 22 countries have signed an agreement to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, which means we are going to grow from ten. It is we’re going to grow from 10% of the globe being powered by nuclear energy to 30% of the goal being touched by nuclear energy, which is so, so willing. And that’s not that far away when you think about it, with the construction time that it takes for nuclear and everything that’s not that far away. So it’s been exciting because I know within the United States we’re looking to break ground as soon as we can on many different construction processes with building new advanced reactors. Most people within the energy sector here, though, are excited about nuclear. Today’s the off day technically, but we have the net zero nuclear summit going on. And this has been like one of the hottest events in town. Right. People want to get in. They want to be watching. They want to be learning. They want to be asking questions. So it has been so, so exciting and so thrilling to see that, you know, people from all different backgrounds and all different sectors overall are thrilled about nuclear. It’s a reliable source of energy for an emissions free source of energy, and it’s an accessible source of energy.
Stuart Turley [00:03:03] I’ve got about three different questions that are going to fold into each other. And you just got in. You and your friends went and saw the new Dubai reactor. Tell us a little bit about that new reactor.
Grace Stanke [00:03:19] So within that Cop 28 here, they’ve been doing tours of the Baroque, a nuclear power plant nearby, which it’s not actually near Dubai at all. It’s in the UAE. It’s about a five hour drive away from Dubai. So there was there was a couple of long bus rides. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make any of the tours. I’m only here in Dubai for three days. But it’s been really incredible because this power plant was built on time, on budget. There are four units. Three are operating right now, and it powers 25% of the UAE. Right. That’s an incredible amount of energy going into the UAE. And it’s something that is just a perfect example of a nuclear power plant, that it’s working. It’s doing its job. It’s creating clean energy, reliable energy. It was built on time, on budget. It can be done. And they proved it.
Stuart Turley [00:04:06] On time and on budget. How do we get the regulators or the people running the regulations and permitting to the United States? Is there any way we could do that?
Grace Stanke [00:04:16] Just getting Well, I have a feeling people will be given a couple of phone calls. We’ve got some US people in here, so I’m sure they’re talking now.
Stuart Turley [00:04:23] How cool is that? Now, you also mentioned the other nuclear company that you had just met in France. Were you just in France and you were the new.
Grace Stanke [00:04:37] So I was I was in Paris for. Yes. So I was in Paris for the World Nuclear Expo last week. And I haven’t I haven’t seen a ton of the new scale folks out here. I know that they are here at Cop 28, but I just got in yesterday. So it’s been a quick 29 hours so far. But it’s been truly, truly wonderful because we have we have about 40 to 50 nuclear youth advocates here. And that is so exciting because you put a bunch of young people who are just as excited, just as passionate in a room together that are thrilled about nuclear. You know, you can just imagine what comes of it. We sit there and we run these booths across top 28 simply just talking about nuclear energy with whoever is walking by. And some of these some of these volunteers and these advocates, they will stand there for 8 to 10 hours every day and they just get more and more excited as every hour passes, which is not normal for most kids standing there at that booth for two hours. But it is so awesome, so exciting because young people across the globe are thrilled about nuclear.
Stuart Turley [00:05:39] This makes a huge difference. And China yesterday, I believe they just announced a new nuclear cargo carrier that’s bigger than several of our aircraft carriers. That’s huge. So it’s molten sand, much like I believe the new scale is molten sand. Is that correct? I think.
Grace Stanke [00:06:01] I.
Stuart Turley [00:06:02] Checked.
Grace Stanke [00:06:02] The one that went through the licensing process. I don’t believe so. But but China China right now has been aggressively pursuing nuclear. They open up they open up a new reactor on their energy grid, much like every 3 to 4 months, which is a lot like that’s a lot. So it’s been exciting because China’s, like I said, aggressively pursuing nuclear. They’re bringing it into maritime as well on the commercial side, which I’m really intrigued to follow just in terms of how the international policy is going to work surrounding that. Right.
Stuart Turley [00:06:33] Well, you know, I just interviewed Sean Strawbridge, and he is now in the global LNG space. And I started digging in on the LNG tankers, which will really help reduce emissions. I mean, think about how many ships are out there. Let’s get rid of some of that. A lot of that net zero, they’re nuclear on ships. I’m I’m sold. Count me in on that now. And as you’re going through there, you got several things going on today. You’re going to be in the blue zone tomorrow. What’s the blue zone versus the red zone? I mean, is this like a Yeah, yeah. All ticket day? I mean, is it. Yeah.
Grace Stanke [00:07:18] Not quite. So So there’s two zones within Cop 28, the Green Zone and the Blues. Now the Green Zone. Anybody that’s in Dubai, anybody that’s traveling here can get a ticket. You can request it online and you can get into the buildings. And that is honestly where most of the learning happens. That’s where most of our lot of like educational talks, a lot of the outreach part. So like, for example, today within the Green Zone, I’m headed back to the site to have a nuclear Now Showing, which is a documentary recently directed by Oliver Stone that was released. And so we’re doing a nuclear now showing and then a panel afterwards with myself, Oliver Stone, one of the two of the top producers of the movie, and then Isabella to a woman who is a also a major nuclear advocate. She’s an influencer, so she is incredibly awesome. And she was in the movie as well. So really exciting stuff going on on that front. But then the blue zone is sort of like you’re more like your government officials. And that sort of thing. It’s a little bit tougher to get into the blues on because it’s not very you know, it’s not it’s not something that you can pay to get in either. You have to get like access through a group or invited or be part of a delegation or things like that. So it’s really exciting because tomorrow I’ll be speaking in both Blue Zone and Green Zone all day, kind of going in between the both of them. Yesterday was kind of like my day to adjust to the time zone. So I was in the Green Zone all day and it was so awesome because I love being in that sort of space because those are the places where you just have connections and random interactions with people from all over the world, right? And a lot of the times I was I was in I was wearing the Miss America sash. Right. And I was Miss America. Yeah. Why are Miss America here at Cop 28? Right. Well, they come up and they ask, you know, they’re like, Oh, hey, you know what you’re doing? You know, what’s up? How are you doing? And it’s really fun because that’s an opportunity where I could say, Oh my gosh, I’m here helping represent nuclear, you know, where are you from? And four people from Australia. Great. I connect them with will shackle a young advocate who’s trying to get the ban lifted in Australia. If they’re from France. I’m like, great. You know, 80% of your power comes from you. But we have so many conversations about that. Nations that nations present state with nuclear, what it’s trying to do, what would be good for it, why we should be building nuclear, all of those things. So that’s where those connections happen. That’s where those conversations happen that are truly impactful, in my opinion.
Stuart Turley [00:09:44] You are laying the foundation for the rest of your life here, and it’s because you’re going to have so many cool connections throughout your entire career. I just want to give you a shout out and thank you for everything you’re doing representing the United States out there and really trying to help change the whole world’s energy. I just you know, I’m a big fan out here. I’ve been seeing all your interviews and everything else. So all of all of our fans, our.
Grace Stanke [00:10:13] Thanks to.
Stuart Turley [00:10:14] All of our listeners have really appreciated you and everything else. And so we talked about where you were going after your thing. And I know you’ve got about one minute and you got to head out what is if you can think of anything, one thing about Dubai, tell us what your thoughts are for Dubai.
Grace Stanke [00:10:33] Oh, well, very modern, very new. But ultimately it’s really a place of innovation and collaboration, which I think is incredible. A great place to hold Corp. And I think that’s something that, you know, within the energy sector, we hope I hope that we can continue that innovation and collaboration abroad.
Stuart Turley [00:10:50] Well, Grace, thank you so much for a representing the United States be be in who you are. And I said this on the first one. Your eyes light up for our podcast listeners when she says nuclear, I think a reactor goes off in her head because her eyes start lighting up. So thank you so much again. I think by the podcast.
Grace Stanke [00:11:12] Awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
