Fusion Is Easy to Turn Off and Very Difficult to Turn On | Dr Kimberly Budil

The director of Lawrence Livermore on why that single property changes the safety conversation. Book Ian for your event → iankhan.com | booking@iankhan.com SUMMARY Dr Kimberly Budil directs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She covers the groundwork already laid for nuclear in the Kingdom, why modern nuclear is safer than its reputation, what fusion changes about waste and passive safety, and the land-use constraint on solar at scale. KEY FINDINGS • Groundwork laid in the Kingdom for nuclear, with eager leadership • Infrastructure and regulatory regime as the prerequisites • Modern nuclear technology being considerably safer than assumed • Fusion generating no long-lived nuclear waste • Fusion as passively safe: easy to stop, hard to start • Energy production at scale as the shared characteristic • Land use as a real constraint on deploying solar at scale NOTABLE QUOTES "It's easy to turn fusion off, very difficult to turn it on." — Dr Kimberly Budil GUEST Dr. Kimberly Budil, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory FULL TRANSCRIPT iankhan.com/futurist/kimberly-budil-fusion-nuclear-energy Recorded at the Future Investment Initiative, Riyadh, for The Futurist. ──────────────────── ABOUT IAN KHAN — AI KEYNOTE SPEAKER Most AI keynotes end with a better understanding. Mine end with a measured readiness score and a ninety-day plan. Your leadership team is assessed before the event, the room sees its own collective result live, and every attendee leaves with a ninety-