Nuclear Power
NuScale goes off the scale
Small Modular Reactors are far too expensive, have terrible economies of scale and will never get here in enough numbers or in time to make any contribution toward mitigating the climate crisis that is already upon us. Just to confirm the folly of pursuing such a path, NuScale and the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems…
Read MoreFrench anti-nuclear movement relaunches
In the face of nuclear threats on multiple fronts — nuclear power and nuclear weapons expansion, reactor license extensions, radioactive waste dumps and fuel pool expansion at La Hague to name a few — the French anti-nuclear movement relaunched last Saturday during a packed meeting in Paris. The new name for the movement is La…
Read MoreRadiation risks at Zaporizhzhia
Bellona.org has published a new report — The Radiation Risks of Seizing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — examining the dangers that have arisen since the plant was seized by Russia early in that country’s invasion of Ukraine. Occupied by Russian troops since March 4, 2022, the report looks at how this has “forced six…
Read MoreJapan could run reactors beyond 60 years
A decision by the Japanese parliament to extend the operating lives of the country’s reactors beyond 60 years has been met with public outcry and also some opposition in the press, including the Asahi Shimbun, whose editorial accused the Diet, as the parliament is known, of taking the lessons of Fukushima “lightly.” The paper has…
Read MoreFukushima tritium levels higher than allowed
From the Korea Herald: A type of radioactive isotope in the over 1.3 million tons of wastewater being collected at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant and planned for discharge by as early as this summer has been found at levels beyond those earlier suggested to be safe by the Japanese government, a wastewater safety…
Read MoreDOE attracting more proliferation controversy
In a May 30, 2023 letter from former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials, including former Chairman Allison Macfarlane, several former U.S. State Department officials and U.S. nonproliferation organizations wrote an appeal to U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm requesting that the agency abandon its plan to pilot a 200 kilowatt Small Modular Reactor (SMR) test…
Read MoreCongressional briefing: Nuclear power and climate
From the Inflation Reduction Act to Oliver Stone’s new film, there’s a renewed discussion about the role nuclear energy could play in the climate fight. Join us for an expert briefing drilling down on the issue, with highly qualified presenters including the former chair of the NRC. REGISTER HERE WHAT? You’re invited to a June…
Read MorePentagon’s “Pele Project” paves the way for SMRs
Named after the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, “Project Pele” is the Pentagon’s partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and demonstrate a prototype US military transportable power reactor. The microreactor (1 to 5 megawatts electric) is being touted for rapid deployment by land, air and sea to support US military operations and…
Read MoreWATCH: Tritium and the U.S. Nuclear Power Sector
“Tritium and the U.S. Nuclear Power Sector” is the first in a two-part webinar series on the threats from dumping huge amounts of tritium (radioactive hydrogen) from the nuclear power and nuclear weapons sectors into our environment both as radioactive vapor and effluent. This webinar features: Dr. Ian Fairlie providing an overview of tritium and…
Read MoreIPPNW: abolish nuke weapons AND power
The Nobel Prize-winning organization of medical professionals — International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War — passed a resolution at its 23rd World Congress, in Mombasa, Kenya on April 30, 2023, entitled: Links between Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power. Beyond Nuclear welcomes this statement, especially coming from those who truly understand the impossible medical…
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