Nuclear Allies of the Month

Italian university students Edoardo Ventafridda and Aurora Pinto manage Giovani Blu, a group of social media pages that educate the public about nuclear energy. The pair also organize grassroots pro-nuclear demonstrations and advocate for nuclear across the world.

Gabriel Ivory sparked a movement by holding an “I Love Nuclear” sign at College Gameday. He co-founded a pro-nuclear club at Texas A&M with Veronica Annala and the advocates aim to make the campus the most pro-nuclear in the nation.

As the former president of the Fusion Party, Andrea Leong aimed to reverse Australia’s ban on nuclear. The biologist and nuclear activist works with WePlanet Australia to promote nuclear energy and sustainable food systems.

Michael McLean, who works at a tech start-up doing data and analytic work, is a key affordable housing and bicycle advocate in Chicago. He sees nuclear as a way to provide cities with clean electricity and transportation. 

Ia Aanstoot, a participant in the Swedish “School Strikes for Climate” is a strong nuclear energy advocate at just 19. Aanstoot is involved with international nuclear advocacy and launched WePlanet’s “Dear Greenpeace” Campaign, an effort to protect nuclear energy in the European Union, which is facing legal attacks from Greenpeace.

Dinara Ermakova, a nuclear engineer specializing in waste management, advocates for nuclear energy with the Anthropocene Institute. As a science communicator, she pushes for nuclear development in developing countries like her native Kazakhstan.

Rodrigo Casimiro and André Feliciano launched Nuclear Vision Portugal to inform people about nuclear energy and motivate the public to participate in energy policy. Nuclear Vision hosted a Stand Up event to spark the conversation on nuclear in Portugal on September 14, 2024.

Westinghouse risk analysis engineer and nuclear advocate Jenifer Avellaneda began her advocacy on X/Twitter as she tried to stop the spread of misinformation about nuclear and the Russian-Ukraine war. Avellaneda aims to be a role model for young women getting into engineering and nuclear space and stresses the safety of nuclear energy.

At just 26 years old, Johan Sollid is spearheading a pro-nuclear movement in Denmark. He founded the organization Foreningen Atomkraft Ja Tak (nuclear, yes please), to dismantle misunderstandings about energy and has traveled internationally to advocate for nuclear.

Guillem Sanchis Ramirez and Marc Altés Soler, nuclear engineers from Barcelona, founded Econucleares to save Spain’s 7 reactors from premature closure. On their journey to save the plants, they have become one of the largest Spanish language nuclear accounts on social media

Heather Hoff, the co-founder of Mothers for Nuclear, helped save Diablo Canyon, where she works at as a nuclear operator, from premature closure. Her organization aims to fill a gap in nuclear communications, specifically listening to and working from the concerns of mothers.

Charlyne Smith, the first black woman to graduate from the University of Florida with a PhD in nuclear engineering, is on a mission to bring nuclear energy to the Caribbean. Smith, an analyst for the nuclear think tank Breakthrough Institute, recently hosted a nuclear engineering boot camp in Jamaica.

A biologist and lifelong environmentalist, Tea Tormanen played a crucial role in shifting nuclear policy within the Green Party of Finland, the only Green party to support nuclear energy in the world. She advocates for nuclear energy across the globe, from an ecomodernist perspective, with RePlanet, an organization that aims to “liberate nature” and “elevate humanity.”

Since forming advocacy group Africa4Nuclear in 2021, Princy Mthombeni has become a premier advocate for nuclear energy on behalf of Africa. A skilled online communicator, Mthombeni utilizes Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube to explore nuclear energy issues from an African perspective (she is from South Africa, the only country in Africa with commercial nuclear energy).

As a board member with FOTA4Climate, Adam Blazowski has helped increase public support for nuclear energy in Poland, which has the dirtiest electricity grid in Europe. Blazowski considers himself an eco-humanist, wanting both nature and humanity to thrive, and advocates nuclear energy as a way to achieve that vision.

As Director of Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal, Madi Hilly fights to preserve existing nuclear plants and to develop new nuclear technology. A seasoned nuclear advocate, Hilly helped to save Byron Nuclear Plant in Illinois from premature closure and has worked across the world in defense of nuclear.