Author and Journalist Michael Shellenberger to Keynote The Nuclear Frontier Documentary Premiere

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 3, 2025--

Journalist, energy expert and best-selling author Michael Shellenberger will deliver the keynote address at the Sept. 15 premiere screening of The Nuclear Frontier, a new feature documentary narrated by actor Boyd Holbrook ( Narcos, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ). The public is invited to the 5 p.m. reception and premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Complimentary admissions are limited due to seating with RSVPs required at TheNuclearFrontier.com.

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Directed by award-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Evan Mascagni ( Building a Bridge, Circle of Poison ), the film follows young advocates and business leaders as they push for the expansion of nuclear power in America, where energy demand is surging due to factors including the construction of AI data centers.

“There is today a growing consensus that nuclear power is the cheapest, cleanest, and safest way to make the abundant power we need for AI dominance and energy abundance,” Shellenberger said. “ The Nuclear Frontier documentary is an exciting look inside why nuclear is finally gaining the support it has long deserved. It’s time to build.”

Shellenberger founded news site Public, which was honored with the 2023 Dao Journalism Prize, and also serves as the CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech at the University of Austin. He also frequently provides expert testimony to Congress on energy issues. He played a pivotal role in preventing nuclear plants from closing around the world including in California. Millions have seen his TED talks on the ecological benefits of nuclear power.

The Nuclear Frontier offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how industry, technology and policy are converging to shape America’s next energy chapter, particularly as the country competes against China for leadership in nuclear’s zero-carbon technology. The United States has built just two nuclear reactors in the past 30 years, while China has built 37 in just 10 years and has another 30 under construction. The documentary was filmed at locations including California’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which had been slated for closure before a combination of employee efforts and broader pro-nuclear advocacy influenced the decision to extend its operation. Other filming sites included the University of South Carolina and Washington D.C.

The premiere marks the start of a nine-state tour with screenings on 14 college campuses. Mascagni hopes the tour will spark a national conversation on the future of nuclear power and the role of the next generation in building it. The public is invited to the documentary’s premiere screening at the Kennedy Center. The event opens with a reception at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15, followed by programming and the film’s screening. Complimentary admissions are limited due to seating with RSVPs required at TheNuclearFrontier.com.

This event is an external rental presented in coordination with The Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by The Kennedy Center.

The Nuclear Frontier promotional poster

Michael Schellenberger to keynote The Nuclear Frontier's documentary premiere at The Kennedy Center

NEW YORK (AP) — Thursday was the final day to select an Affordable Care Act health insurance plan across much of the country, as the expiration of federal subsidies drives up health costs and lawmakers remain locked in a debate over how to address the issue.

That's when the open enrollment window ends in most states for plans that start in February. About 10 states that run their own marketplaces have later deadlines, or have extended them to the end of the month to give their residents more time.

The date is a crucial one for millions of small business owners, gig workers, farmers, ranchers and others who don't get their health insurance from a job and therefore rely on marketplace plans. A record 24 million Americans purchased Affordable Care Act health plans last year.

But this year, their decisions over health coverage have been more difficult than usual as clarity over how much it will cost is hard to come by. And so far, enrollment is lagging behind last year's numbers — with about 22.8 million Americans having signed up so far, according to federal data.

Last year, for months, it was unclear whether Congress would allow for the end-of-year expiration of COVID-era expanded subsidies that had offset costs for more than 90% of enrollees. Democrats forced a record-long government shutdown over the issue, but still couldn't get a deal done. So the subsidies expired Jan. 1, leaving the average subsidized enrollee with more than double the monthly premium costs for 2026, according to an analysis from the health care nonprofit KFF.

Still, the question of whether Congress would resurrect the tax credits loomed over Washington. Several enrollees told The Associated Press they have either delayed signing up for coverage or signed up with a plan to cancel as they anxiously watch what's happening on Capitol Hill.

Last week, the House passed a three-year extension of the subsidies after 17 Republicans joined with Democrats against the wishes of Republican leaders. But the Senate rejected a similar bill last year.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has been leading a bipartisan group of 12 senators trying to devise a compromise and said this week that he expects to have a proposal by the end of the month. The contours of the senators’ bipartisan plan involves a two-year deal that would extend the enhanced subsidies while adding new limits on who can receive them. The proposal would also create the option, in the second year, of a new health savings account that President Donald Trump and Republicans prefer.

Under the deal being discussed, the ACA open enrollment period would be extended to March 1 of this year to allow people more time to figure out their coverage plans after the disruption.

Still, Republicans and Democrats say they have not completed the plan, and the two sides have yet to agree if there should be new limits on whether states can use separate funds for abortion coverage.

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced outlines of a plan he wants Congress to consider that would. It would, among other things, redirect ACA subsidies into health savings accounts that go directly to consumers. Democrats have largely rebuffed this idea as inadequate for offsetting health costs for most people.

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro contributed from Washington.

FILE - Pages from the U.S. Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on a computer screen in New York, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)