The University of Wisconsin hosted the Energy Hub Conference Friday where keynote speaker Dr. Patrick Moore discussed the future of alternative energy.

Moore co-founded Greenpeace, serving for nine years as president of Greenpeace Canada and seven years as director of Greenpeace International. Moore split with Greenpeace in 1986 and has since become a vocal critic of many of their policies, especially Greenpeace’s stance against nuclear power.

Today, Moore serves as co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, an organization which promotes nuclear power. He also works as chair and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies, a consultant group which, according to Moore, is devoted to “sensible environmentalism.”

In his speech at the eHub Conference, Moore talked mainly about the benefits of nuclear power, emphasizing that “public policy wants nuclear plants, not coal plants.”

After a lack of progress in nuclear energy for decades, experts have seen a recent increase in interest surrounding it.

“The number of students studying nuclear engineering has … quadrupled in four years,” said Gerald Kulcinski, UW professor of nuclear engineering and director of the Fusion Technology Institute.

According to Moore, the nuclear power revival has begun within the last decade because of the pragmatism of the solution as “a long-term power source that’s sitting there, able to be used.”

Along with the environmental advantages of moving away from using fossil fuels, supporters credit the financial benefits of nuclear energy compared to other alternative fuel sources as another major draw.

“The cost of electricity from nuclear plants is the lowest, always competing with coal in today’s market,” Kulcinski said.

Although Moore and others support nuclear energy, a vocal section of the population remains against pursuing nuclear power as an alternative fuel source.

“Until there’s a way to adequately recycle waste or turn it into a state that eliminates its radioactivity, it really is not the best option for us as a country,” said Tony Uhl, chair of Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group.

Uhl also added that nuclear power plants are extremely expensive, and that money can easily be invested in other types of energy to provide the same sort of returns.

Despite these concerns, Kulcinski insists that nuclear power is not only a practical alternative to the use of fossil fuels, but one that will cause no harm to the public as it is “very, very safe.”

Moore agreed in his speech, referring to a recent interview where, when asked if he would live near a nuclear power plant, he replied, “I’d not only live by a nuclear power plant, I’d live in one.”

Kulcinski also said that part of the reason why nuclear plants have been controversial in the past is because of a negative perception of anything nuclear.

“People will always associate nuclear power with nuclear weapons, and that’s really a misconception because they’re quite different,” Kulcinski said.

Despite some public protest against the power source, both Kulcinski and Moore are optimistic about its future and think that people will begin to see nuclear power differently because of recent increase in public concern for environmental issues.

–Alex Brousseau contributed to this report.