Archives

Since 1990, New Hampshire has used nuclear fission to help fuel its grid; close to 40 percent of our energy now comes from nuclear power. Many call this alternative energy ready and proven, but others say new facilities are too costly to build and current ones are too risky to the environment. We'll look at how nuclear power could move us away from fossil fuels and the challenges it still faces.

Guests

• Ian Hutchinson, head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Peter Bradford, adjunct professor at the Institute of Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, former Public Utilities Commissioner for the States of Maine and New York and former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner

We'll also hear from

• Rob Williams , spokesperson for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont
• Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight project at Beyond Nuclear , an anti-nuclear organization that advocates for communities dealing with nuclear power issues, and a co-founder of the Clamshell Alliance, which fought the construction of the Seabrook Nuclear Power facility

This program was originally broadcast May 20, 2009

Less than one percent of the state’s grid is being fueled by the sun, but advocates hope to change that. They say solar is clean, convenient and most available during times of greatest need. But skeptics say solar power is too erratic and too expensive to supplement fossil fuels. We kick off our series on alternative energy exploring if solar power is viable for fueling the New Hampshire grid.

Guests

• Clifton Below, commissioner for the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission
• Chris Stimpson, Executive Campaigner for Solar Nation, a national solar energy advocacy group based in Peterborough

We'll also hear from

• Howard Hayden, professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, publisher and editor of the EnergyAdvocate newsletter and author of Solar Fraud: Why Solar Energy Won’t Run the World
• Jack Potter and Eva Dunn, owners of the Shaker Woods Farm Bed and Breakfast in Sanbornton; they use solar energy not only to heat their home and business but bring energy back to the grid

This program was originally broadcast May 18, 2009

Four hundred years ago today, Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers. It was from this and other stronger telescopes that Galileo was able to discover mind-blowing details about our universe. His notion of a heliocentric system would cost him his freedom by the Roman Catholic Church, while his advancements in mathematics, motion and astronomy would earn him titles from the Father of Physics to the Father of Modern Science. We’ll look back at the life, achievements and legacy of Galileo Galilei.

Guests

• John Gianforte, astronomy instructor for the Granite State College, professor of Physics at the University of New Hampshire and co-founder of the Astronomical Society of Northern New England; he has researched and lectured extensively on Galileo's accomplishments this year as part of the International Year of Astronomy
• Dava Sobel, award-winning former science writer for the New York Times and author of several books including Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter

A bill in Congress would increase direct government lending to students. Supporters say it would save consumers and the government a lot of money, but others worry cutting banks and non-profit groups out of the picture would leave students without essential services. We’ll look at how this and other issues could affect student lending in New Hampshire.

Guest

• June Schlabach, director of the financial aid office at Plymouth State University
• Rene Drouin, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation
• Kelly Field, chief Washington reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education

Over the past several months, NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant has been producing a series of stories on prescription drug abuse in the state. She’s looked at how abusers are buying and stealing pills, the role hospitals and pharmacies are playing in the problem, what’s being done to combat the abuse and the money that addicts are costing the state each year. We'll talk with Elaine and the people she interviewed about the growing problem of prescription drug abuse in the Granite State.

Guests

• Elaine Grant, NHPR’s health reporter
• Dr. Gil Fanciullo, director of Pain Management at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
• Philip Bradley, an assistant New Hampshire attorney general in the Medicaid Fraud unit

We'll also hear from

• Cindy Desrosiers, group coordinator for Allies in Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), a task force aimed at preventing substance abuse in Rockingham County
• Jackie Abikoff, executive director of the Horizons Counseling Center in Gilford