Public narratives about science are often shaped less by data than by incentives. When storytelling replaces evidence, we risk stifling innovation that could solve real problems — and ignoring the need for sensible safeguards where they're actually warranted. Both outcomes endanger public safety and erode trust in science.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the unfolding convergence of nuclear energy and artificial intelligence.

The failure to scale nuclear power remains one of the great moral and strategic tragedies of the modern era. Over 8 million lives are lost each year to fossil fuel-related pollution. Billions live without access to reliable energy, stunting economic growth, hindering industry and deepening poverty. Forests are cleared for agriculture where nuclear-powered greenhouse farming could have fed millions. Freshwater shortages, geopolitical instability and dependence on hostile oil regimes all trace back to one failure: We abandoned the promise of nuclear energy, not because the science demanded it but because incentives aligned against it.

The safety profile of nuclear energy has been well established. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that nuclear causes fewer deaths per terawatt-hour than oil, wind or hydro. Oil results in 18.4 deaths per terawatt-hour, while nuclear accounts for........

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