In the wake of this year’s disaster in Japan at the Fukushima Daiici power plant, new concern is rising about nuclear power. A forthcoming documentary film, Transparent Radiation: Rethinking the Future of Nuclear Power, takes a hard look at the nature and trade-offs of nuclear energy use.

Produced by the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, the film will premiere on Saturday, Oct. 22, 5 p.m., at the Palace 9 Cinemas, 10 Fayette Road, South Burlington, Vt. The event is open to the public.

A panel discussion will follow the screening, with director Hillary Archer ’10 and faculty from the Gund Institute.

The film is being shown as part of the Vermont International Film Festival and will provide a “critical look at the future of nuclear power in the Green Mountain State and beyond,” Archer notes.

“Set amid the world's historic transition toward energy sustainability,” Archer says, the 30-minute documentary provides “a holistic outlook on nuclear energy with the intention of empowering new perspectives and solutions for the future.”

More than twenty people from UVM’s Gund Institute participated in the film, including professors John Todd, Gary Flomenhoft, Austin Troy, Josh Farley, Diane Gayer and Saleem Ali.

Transparent Radiation was written and directed by Hillary Archer, with the Gund Institute’s managing director, Jon Erickson, as executive producer.