U.S. Nuclear Energy Policy

Learn how Congress makes Nuclear Energy policies and how you can engage with lawmakers to support science & engineering!

What you'll learn

Understand how federally elected officials make policy decisions that impact scientists and engineers

Learn how the U.S. Congress allocates trillions of dollars every year to federal programs during Appropriations season

Become a STEM leader and champion by learning how to speak to politicians and their staff to gain their public and financial support

Prepare a one-pager to bring to meetings with Senators and Members of Congress to support federally-funded projects in your STEM field

Defend your STEM organization from harmful policies such as budget cuts, hiring freezes, and poor regulations

Organize a meeting with your elected officials and build lasting relationships that influence their decision-making process in legislative settings

Optional: Apply for a policy fellowship program to work as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow to share your technical expertise with lawmakers

Requirements

NE101: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering (or equivalent) is recommended for those specifically wanting a deeper understanding of U.S. Nuclear Energy policies

No previous knowledge of U.S. Congress is required. You will learn everything you need to know about the U.S. government in the course!

Students should have an interest in U.S. Public Policy and its impact on the science and engineering community.

If you have expertise in another STEM field, that's great! You will be able to project your own field of expertise into the course exercises and findings.

Description

My name is William Roysdon Murray, and I'm delighted to welcome you to U.S. Nuclear Energy Policy!The decisions that U.S. Congress makes are often confusing, infuriating, and seemingly nonsensical. Yet, there are still rules and practices that dictate how each individual U.S. Senator and House Representative makes decisions that move trillions of taxpayer dollars every year - dollars that fund STEM student scholarships, kick-start cutting edge research projects at national labs and universities, and directly fund the salaries of scientists and engineers working at federal agencies and government contractors. Knowing how Congress makes decisions on spending money and passing laws is critically important for any scientist or engineer wanting to become a technical leader in their field, attaining executive leadership roles with their employer, or in becoming a successful entrepreneur by solving technical problems of national importance. I spent all of 2024 working for a U.S. Senator as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow, a fellowship program offered by the American Nuclear Society* and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences*. Fellows like me offer their technical expertise to assist elected officials in writing new laws from scratch, voting on current bills up for debate, implementing the logistics of recently passed laws, and overseeing the operations and conduct of federal agencies and their staff. In the process, I learned how elected officials think, act, and seek out information that impacts their decision making - and all of this is exactly what I will teach you in this course!My hope for this course is that you will become a leader in a scientific or engineering field that is well versed in public policy, and can continue earning the financial and public support of the U.S. government in your field of expertise. I'll tell you where to go next at the the end of the course if you really enjoyed learning about policy work!Public Policy and Science LeadershipOne way to be seen as a leader in STEM is to earn a Nobel Prize with your groundbreaking research. Another way is to pay my rent and keep my bank account happy so I can focus on my work - and this can only happen when scientists and engineers can convince elected officials to continue funding the contractors, national labs, and research universities that employ them.This course covers:Why current and aspiring leaders in science and engineering need to become familiar with public policyWhat motivates individual scientists and engineers to work in government and lawmaking instead of a traditional laboratory or engineering environmentA detailed, personal account of the instructor's experience in transitioning from engineering work to public policy, including what social and professional challenges he faced during his time in Washington DCHow to defend your own STEM organization from harmful policies such as research funding cuts, hiring freezes, and poor regulationsGovernment SpendingNo one likes taxes - until the tax money flows back to their own communities and businesses. In this course, we take a deeper look at where U.S. taxpayer money is spent in the Federal Budget, and how Congress decides to spend taxpayer money during the annual Appropriations process.This course covers:A breakdown of the US Federal Budget and the different types of government spendingA walk-through of the Appropriations process where Congress allocates money each year to federal science and engineering projectsA hands-on exercise in studying federal funding levels at the US Department of Energy Meeting with Elected OfficialsEver wonder what your U.S. Senators and Representatives do for you? Let's ask them directly! I'll teach you how to reach out to your elected officials and have impactful conversations with them in words that resonate with their own interests.This course covers:How to contact your elected officials and request a meetingHow to effectively communicate issues in science and engineeringHow to request action in the form of public support and federal funding to be spent on your fieldA practical assignment in organizing a meeting with one of your elected officials to introduce yourself and your field of workNuclear Energy Policies in the United StatesOnce you have a solid foundation of how Congress operates and thinks, you'll now have the right mindset to begin analyzing laws Congress has passed that shape the nuclear energy landscape. This course covers laws from the Legislative Branch, including:The Atomic Energy Act of 1954The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2022 The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022The ADVANCE Act of 2024An analytical assignment in reviewing the contents, motivations, and implementations of bills impacting the nuclear sectorAdditionally, we will look at the Executive Branch to understand what powers the sitting President has in shaping policy through mechanisms such as:Executive OrdersFederal Hiring FreezesAgency Budget CutsCommunity LearningIn addition to having access to Udemy's course resources for Q&A, all enrolled students are invited to join our Nuclear Learning Community on Discord. It's a great way to make friends, ask questions, and share your experiences in the course and its content.  Course LogisticsThis course is roughly equivalent to a one-semester, 3-credit university course taken by STEM or Public Policy students in their junior year or senior year. This is an intersectional course covering the overlap between federal government policy with science and engineering. Students of any STEM background will benefit from learning how policies and laws set by the U.S. government impact the legality of their work, federal funding for laboratory research, and educational grant awards given out by federal agencies to students and universities.It is recommended, but not required, that students have taken NE101: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering for learning foundational knowledge on nuclear energy and communicating technical topics to a non-technical audience. Students in other STEM disciplines who are far enough in their studies will be able to project their own respective expertise into the policy space through this course.Course Textbook: The Nuclear Engineer's Guide to U.S. Congress, by William Murray. The course textbook is affordable and available for digital PDF purchase on Gumroad. Additional readings of bill texts and policy summary articles online are provided at no cost.Suggested Pace: 10 pages per day of the course text, with additional readings of bills and news articles for specific homework assignments. Total Chapters Covered: All of The Nuclear Engineer's Guide To Congress will be used in this course. This course takes around 10 weeks of learning on a casual part-time basis, or around 2 weeks on a focused full-time basis. Upon enrolling in the course, students will be invited to join the Nuclear Learning Community to discuss energy policy issues and improve their understanding on topics discussed in the course. Credits and DisclaimersThe thumbnail for this image was created in part using "Arkansas Nuclear One cooling tower" by Flickr user: Topato is licensed under CC BY 2.0.No organizations (indicated with an asterisk*) mentioned in this video series have endorsed the contents of this series, nor does the lecturer claim to speak on official behalf of any organizations mentioned in this series.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction and Course Welcome

Lecture 2 How to Learn in this Course

Lecture 3 Course Text - The Nuclear Engineer's Guide to U.S. Congress

Lecture 4 Using AI as a Learning Tool for Public Policy

Lecture 5 Join the Nuclear Learning Community on Discord

Section 2: Public Policy and Science Leadership

Lecture 6 Leaders in Science Know Public Policy

Lecture 7 Committees and Caucuses

Lecture 8 Looking up bills on Congress.gov

Section 3: How the U.S. Government Spends Money

Lecture 9 The Federal Budget

Lecture 10 The Appropriations Process

Lecture 11 Congressionally Directed Spending

Section 4: Meeting Individually with Elected Officials

Lecture 12 Who You Should Talk To

Lecture 13 How to Ask for a Meeting

Lecture 14 How to Ask for Money and Funding Support

Section 5: US Nuclear Energy Policies

Lecture 15 Timeline of US Technology Development and Public Sentiment

Lecture 16 Legacy Policies: 1950 - 2010

Lecture 17 Modern Policies: 2010 - Present

Lecture 18 Policies Under Development

Section 6: Executive Branch Policies

Lecture 19 Executives Orders Vs Laws

Lecture 20 Hiring Freezes, Agency Layoffs, and Budget Cuts

Lecture 21 Strategies for Defending Your Organization from Harmful Policies

Section 7: Course Wrap Up

Lecture 22 Course Review

Lecture 23 The American Nuclear Society Congressional Fellowship

Lecture 24 Course Wrap-Up and Final Words

Nuclear Engineering students, professors, and industry professionals will especially benefit from this course, as the focus is on federal policies impacting Nuclear Energy,US Federal Employees wanting to understand how Congress and the Executive Branch makes decisions that affect their agency's operations,STEM university professors wanting to understand how scholarships and research grant money is given out by the US government to universities and national labs,STEM students currently in university wanting to learn how their technical field is seen and understood by lawmakers,STEM industry professionals wanting to understand how elected officials make decisions on regulations, public-private partnerships, and,Public Policy students or professionals wanting to learn more about how their work impacts the STEM Community,LGBT+ and Neurodivergent professionals in STEM wanting to hear from a peer on how to survive working on Capitol Hill in a very divided U.S. Congress