Nuclear Power & Global Warming/Climate Change

News and articles regarding nuclear power and global warming/climate change.

Nuclear Power 'Can't Stop Climate Change'

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, reveals in a new report that it could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favorable circumstances.

Nuclear Power:No Answer to Climate Change

A report produced by NIRS explaining why nuclear power is NOT the answer to climate change

Tackling Climate Change Without Nuclear Power

A report detailing how climate targets in the power sector can be met without replacing existing nuclear capacity

SECURE ENERGY? CIVIL NUCLEAR POWER, SECURITY AND GLOBAL WARMING

The risks of proliferation and nuclear terrorism by both state and non-state actors are simply uncontrollable. This report by Oxford Research Group gathers an impressive amount of evidence for the high security risk of nuclear technologies. At the same time, it shows that hopes for the climate-protecting potential of nuclear energy are entirely misplaced. We all have to work hard to spread this combination of insights into the international energy discussion very quickly and effectively, for decisions about future energy technologies are made today and have consequences far into the future. Although matters of global warming and global energy security obviously cannot be solved by one nation alone, the UK discussion is crucial in the current context. An influential player in Europe, with a cultural and political proximity to the United States, decisions taken in the UK are perceived and taken into account worldwide.

Will France be caught with its plants down?

If another heat wave hits Europe this summer, many say country's beloved nuclear-power system won't be able to cope

Nuclear Power in the Age of Global Warming - New Solution or Same Old Threat?

Robert Alvarez gave this presentation at the Seattle Town Hall on June 14th.

Why Nuclear Energy Isn’t the Great Green Hope

As the planet warms, leaders from Washington to Beijing are pushing nuclear power as a clean alternative to coal. But this new strategy for fighting climate change has a fatal flaw: It can’t possibly work.

What have you got against nuclear power, anyway?

Sooner or later, at least one member of the audience that has turned out to see me present Al Gore's climate change slide show wants to know why I haven't included nuclear power in the list of technologies that can help cut our carbon emissions. The question is usually put by the likes of a retired engineer who actually understands the physics and technical aspects of nuclear power. I have to admit that I don't welcome the question, because it tends to lead to a drawn-out debate at what is already a longer evening that most attendees bargained for. But I do have an answer: time.

ENVIRONMENT-GERMANY: What a Lake Says About Climate Change <and nukes>

When the East German nuclear power plant Rheinsberg was shut down almost 20 years ago, environmentalists expected that fauna and flora in nearby Stechlin lake would survive without further damage.

Drought could force shutdown of nuclear, coal plants

North Carolina's electric utilities, among the largest water customers in the state, are dusting off contingency plans to manage their power plants if lake levels continue to drop due to the ongoing drought - plans that could lead to higher costs for consumers. Both Progress Energy and Duke Energy say that if they don't have enough water to run their coal and nuclear plants, they'll either shift generation to natural gas fired gas plants or buy power on the open market - costs that would be passed on to the utilities' customers.

USC BRIEF: GOT WATER?

Nuclear power plants are usually built on the shores of lakes, rivers, and oceans.1 This practice is not for the aesthetics such locales provide, but because the readily available water can absorb the waste heat produced by the plants. Nuclear power plants consume vast amounts of water during normal operation to absorb the waste heat left over after making electricity, and also to cool the equipment and buildings used in generating that electricity. In the event of an accident, nuclear power plants need water to remove the decay heat produced by the reactor core and also to cool the equipment and buildings used to provide the core’s heat removal. This issue brief describes the reliance of nuclear power plants on nearby bodies of water during normal operation and under accident conditions.

Nuclear power - undermining action on climate change

There is a clear scientific consensus that we must halve global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 or suffer changes to the global climate with catastrophic consequences. Avoiding the most severe impacts of climate change requires governments, individuals and businesses world-wide to take immediate action. Some US $7 trillion are projected to be invested in new electricity generation capacity between now and 2030.2 The energy investment decisions taken today will determine whether or not the world achieves the necessary CO2 emission cuts in time. The nuclear industry, which has been in decline in the US and Europe, has seized upon the climate crisis as a revival opportunity, claiming to offer a carbon-free contribution to our future energy mix. Nuclear power is an expensive and dangerous distraction from the real solutions to climate change. Greenhouse gas reduction targets can only be met through using the proven alternatives of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency. Every dollar spent on nuclear power is a dollar stolen from the real solutions to climate change.

Nuclear power won't cure climate change: Finnish PM

Building more nuclear power plants to reduce global warming emissions is not the way to fight global climate change, Finland's prime minister said on Monday.

Drought Could Force Nuke-Plant Shutdowns

Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.

NUCLEAR ENERGY: BALANCING BENEFITS AND RISKS

Nuclear energy is unlikely to play a major role in the coming decades in countering the harmful effects of climate change or in strengthening energy security, concludes a new Council Special Report authored by Charles D. Ferguson, Council fellow for science and technology. To significantly combat climate change in the near term, the "nuclear industry would have to expand at such a rapid rate as to pose serious concerns for how the industry would ensure an adequate supply of reasonably inexpensive reactor-grade construction materials, well-trained technicians, and rigorous safety and security measures," says the report.

Nuclear's CO2 cost 'will climb'

The case for nuclear power as a low carbon energy source to replace fossil fuels has been challenged in a new report by Australian academics.