The grandson of the J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Founder of Oppenheimer Energy Ventures speaks to CGTN Europe at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels.
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00:00 This summit was all about trying to find ways to improve that, to use nuclear instead of fossil fuels.
00:06 And one of the suggestions is leveraging private finance as well as publicly funded capital
00:13 in order to try to create enough money to make these projects happen.
00:17 And one of the proponents for that is Charles Oppenheimer, the grandson of the man who helped lead the team that invented the nuclear bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.
00:26 He was here today with his organization to talk about why he believes there should be fewer nuclear weapons, but also more nuclear energy investments.
00:35 First of all, we've had so far many heads of state speaking today, and it was a group of leaders who all generally support nuclear energy.
00:47 And that's one of the reasons they're calling it the first summit, that the government leaders came together in support of the cop pronouncement of tripling nuclear energy by 2050.
00:58 So it's really great to see the heads of state doing it. But there was a common theme. They almost all mentioned finance.
01:03 They need financial help. And specifically, what's the new model you're hoping for to get investment in these nuclear energy projects?
01:11 That's what I'm trying to bring to the table, both in the nonprofit part of encouraging participation, especially in difficult allies.
01:20 Today, we had China attending and speaking about nuclear energy and all the other delegates.
01:26 And that's really what we need with nuclear energy is this kind of international focus.
01:30 And what I think I can bring to the table is not only the promotion of that international cooperation, but the the investment case to make private investment,
01:41 invest in a fund that can bring private equity into a nuclear project the same way we have with renewable projects.
01:47 And it took 20 years to build up those private equity funds that can now invest in nuclear renewable projects.
01:54 We need the same thing in the nuclear industry. And how has the Oppenheimer name been useful in trying to get this work done?
02:01 And how's that family history motivated yourself to get into this line of work?
02:05 It is influenced, I believe, in fission for good and that fission, the same technology can be used to save the world,
02:13 literally in this case against climate change and not be used for weapons.
02:17 So advocating for those all the time, very much in the mission of the IAEA is aligned with it.
02:23 And something I've been trying to use, there's so much attention on the Oppenheimer name and family.
02:27 So I've been going out there and talking about it and say, saying, you may have liked the movie,
02:32 but here's some some real stuff that we can do about the future, not just the past,
02:36 which would be an expansion of nuclear energy and a decrease in nuclear weapons.