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The U.S.--and the world--is gearing up to build a potentially massive fleet of new nuclear reactors, in part to fight climate change. But can nuclear power handle the load?
January 26, 2009 |
Features
Even environmentalists are reevaluating nuclear power as a possible solution to global warming, but can it really help?
Features
Nuclear power--like most forms of electricity generation--carries inherent risks. Is it worth the minor chance of a major catastrophe?
60-Second Earth
Imitating the sun remains an elusive goal for energy researchers. David Biello reports.
Features
Nuclear waste is either millennia's worth of lethal garbage or the fuel of future nuclear reactors--or both
Steve Fetter, dean of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, supplies an answer
Newly approved reactor designs could reduce global warming and fossil-fuel dependence, but utilities are grappling with whether better nukes make market sense
A threefold expansion of nuclear power could contribute significantly to staving off climate change by avoiding one billion to two billion tons of carbon emissions annually
New Jersey-based NRG Energy applies to build the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in more than 30 years
An obscure scale helps communicate the relative severity of a nuclear accident
What companies are doing to keep consumers out of the dark when a power facility fails
New, safer and more economical nuclear reactors could not only satisfy many of our future energy needs but could combat global warming as well
Two billion years ago parts of an African uranium deposit spontaneously underwent nuclear fission. The details of this remarkable phenomenon are just now becoming clear
A threefold expansion of nuclear power could contribute significantly to staving off climate change by avoiding one billion to two billion tons of carbon emissions annually
A new generation of reactors after more than 30 years without a new nuclear plant raises hopes, opportunities and concerns. David Biello reports. See tinyurl.com/2pb4bc
In this episode, MIT physicist Ernest Moniz discusses the future of nuclear energy and the article he co-authored in the September issue of Scientific American called The Nuclear Option
A new wave of nuclear power plant construction has boosted the price of uranium reactor fuel
Using comic books to explore the issues and history of nuclear power
Plans are afoot to reuse spent reactor fuel in the U.S. But the advantages of the scheme pale in comparison with its dangers
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