Empirical is everything; nuclear is a loser

2022 World Nuclear Industry Status Report once again shows failure of nuclear energy and the irresistible rise of renewables

In a special edition of Nuclear Hotseat, host Libbe HaLevy was joined by Beyond Nuclear’s Linda Pentz Gunter to interview three of the principal authors of the 2022 World Nuclear Industry Status Report. The annual report is chock full of empirical data that shows the continued decline of nuclear power, its complete lack of utility as a climate change solution and, in this year’s edition, a special look at the implications of nuclear reactors in a war zone — specifically in the current Russian war against Ukraine where there are 15 operable reactors.

The guests on the show were:

• Mycle Schneider, an independent international analyst and consultant on energy and nuclear policy, based in Paris. He is the initiator and Convening Lead Author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report.
• M. V. Ramana, physicist and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia.
• Michael Sailer, an independent consultant on nuclear energy. He has more than 40 years of experience in the field, most notably regarding the safety of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, and the storage and final disposal of nuclear and other radioactive wastes.

And in this week’s Hot Story, Linda Pentz Gunter discusses the exposé by writer and journalist, Stephanie Cooke, who revealed that the US Department of Energy’s plans for new full-size reactors could cost as much as $5 trillion – more than three times the current and obscene budget for “upgrading” the US nuclear arsenal.

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