Internet Research
Background
How nuclear power works (2019)
General
Nuclear power pros and cons (2019)
Pro — Websites
World Nuclear Association
Pro — Articles
Nuclear Power in a clean energy system (2019). With nuclear power facing an uncertain future in many countries, the world risks a steep decline in its use in advanced economies that could result in billions of tonnes of additional carbon emissions. Some countries have opted out of nuclear power in light of concerns about safety and other issues. Many others, however, still see a role for nuclear in their energy transitions but are not doing enough to meet their goals. The publication of the IEA’s first report addressing nuclear power in nearly two decades.
Sorette. New ways and needs for exploiting nuclear energy (201)
Nuclear Power dilemma (2019)
Renewables
Global energy and CO2 status Report (2019)
Superior to Renewables
Why Renewables Can’t Save the Planet (2019)
Con — Websites
Greenpeace
NIRS
Con — Articles
Nuclear power is not the solution we need in time of climate change (2019). Yet scientific evidence and recent catastrophes call into question whether nuclear power could function safely in our warming world. Wild weather, fires, rising sea levels, earthquakes and warming water temperatures all increase the risk of nuclear accidents, while the lack of safe, long-term storage for radioactive waste remains a persistent danger.
Nuclear power is not safe (2019). There is another way to look at these figures. If the core damage frequency is one in 10,000, that means that for a reactor with a 40-year life span, the likelihood of the reactor melting down during its lifetime is forty in 10,000, one in 250, or 0.4%. If the reactor is designed to a core damage frequency of one in 20,000, then the likelihood of meltdown over its lifetime is one in 500, or 0.2%. These numbers do not reflect what has happened in the real world. Having gone through 17,000 reactor years at civil reactors, we have experienced three meltdowns in Japan, all at Fukushima Daiichi; at least one meltdown in the Soviet Union, at Chernobyl (though given the Soviet inclination to cover things up, there might have been others); one in Scotland, at Chapelcross; two in France, both at Saint-Laurent, but on different occasions; one in Czechoslovakia, at Jaslovské Bohunice; and three meltdowns in the United States, one each at Three Mile Island (Pennsylvania), Fermi (Michigan), and SRE (California
I oversaw the nuclear power industry. Now I think it should be banned (2019). But fission reactors have a dark side, too: If the energy they produce is not closely controlled, they can fail in catastrophic ways that kill people and render large tracts of land uninhabitable. Nuclear power is also the path to nuclear weapons, themselves an existential threat.
The economic viability of nuclear power is only going down (2019).
Recent studies from New York and California show that it is cheaper to invest in renewables, energy efficiency and energy storage in order to replace aging nuclear plants than it is to keep the existing plants running. Savings range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars – achieved without any impact on electric system reliability.
Marc Jacobson. Evaluation of Nuclear Power as a Proposed Solution to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security
Nuclear power can save the world (2019). Expanding the technology is the fastest way to slash greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize the economy.
is it time we give nuclear power another chance? (2019). Rather than simply dismissing all nuclear power out of hand, it can be instructive to understand why these disasters took place. “The first failure of Chernobyl was the design,” said engineer Katie Mummah. “They designed their reactor so that, if it heats up, the chain reaction increases,” she added, “and as it increases, you produce more heat.” Mummah says this design had the benefit of creating “more plutonium,” for Russia’s weapons ambitions. The second failure was to not build a containment building, a steel and concrete shroud around the reactor to prevent the release of hazardous matter. “If they’d had a containment building,” said Mummah, “then we wouldn’t have Chernobyl as we knew it.”
The climate needs of nuclear power (2019).If governors are serious about global warming, they’ll preserve this vital source of clean energy.
 |
Menu