A Nuclear Solution to Climate Change?

Sailor, W.C.; Bodansky, David; Braun, C.; Fetter, Steve; Zwaan, Bob van der

doi:10.1126/science.288.5469.1177

Cited by 98 publications

(73 citation statements)

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“…Even the U.S. Department of Energy when issuing millions of dollars in grants hoped to contribute to "assuring a new generation of engineers and scientists necessary for pursuing nuclear power-a safe, reliable, affordable and emissions-free source of energy" [19]. In addition, the urgent need to prevent GHG emissions has moved many energy experts to reconsider the use of nuclear energy specifically to slow climate destabilization [20][21][22][23][24]. This misrepresentation is repeated continually in the policy spectrum.…”

Section: Nuclear Energy Life Cycle Ghg Emissions and Energy Cannibalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source

Pearce

2012

Sustainability

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This paper provides a review and analysis of the challenges that nuclear power must overcome in order to be considered sustainable. The results make it clear that not only do innovative technical solutions need to be generated for the fundamental inherent environmental burdens of nuclear energy technology, but the nuclear industry must also address difficult issues of equity both in the present and for future generations. The results show that if the concept of just sustainability is applied to the nuclear energy sector a global large-scale sustainable nuclear energy system to replace fossil fuel combustion requires the following: (i) a radical improvement in greenhouse gas emissions intensity by improved technology and efficiency through the entire life cycle to prevent energy cannibalism during rapid growth; (ii) the elimination of nuclear insecurity to reduce the risks associated with nuclear power so that the free market can indemnify it without substantial public nuclear energy insurance subsidies; (iii) the elimination of radioactive waste at the end of life and minimization of environmental impact during mining and operations; and (iv) the nuclear industry must regain public trust or face obsolescence as a swarm of renewable energy technologies quickly improve both technical and economic performance.

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Section: Nuclear Energy Life Cycle Ghg Emissions and Energy Cannibalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source

Pearce

2012

Sustainability

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“…Policy related content is the main source of interest in media coverage of nuclear energy (Figure 4), followed by safety and environmental themes (more commonly presented in Spanish print media). Science and technology topics, along with economy and energy economy, do have some relevance, especially in the transnational print media, while climate protection issues are almost disregarded, although after the last decade nuclear energy has been promoted as an instrument of mitigation of climate change, both by scientists (Sailor et al 2005) and politicians (Bang 2010). Most actors state their support to fusion energy, especially in Spanish (65%) and transnational print media (60%).…”

Section: Media Coverage and Thematic Framing Of Fusion And Fissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Spain, after a period of uncertainty, the government approved the extension of licenses to several nuclear facilities including the oldest ones, while in the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and Hungary, plans to maintain or even expand nuclear capacity were unshaken by the events in Japan (World Energy Council, 2012: [16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fukushima nuclear disaster and its effects on media framing of fission and fusion energy technologies

Schmidt

Horta

Pereira

et al. 2015

2015 4th International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and Their Applications (ANIMMA

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-This paper presents results of a comparison of media coverage of fusion and fission energy technologies in three countries (Germany, Spain and Portugal) and in the English language international print media addressing transnational elite, from 2008 to 2012. The analysis showed that the accident in Fukushima in March 2010 did not have significant impact on media framing of nuclear fusion in the major part of print media under investigation. In fact, fusion is clearly dissociated from traditional nuclear (fission) energy and from nuclear accidents. It tends to be portrayed as a safe, clean and unlimited source of energy, although less credited when confronted with research costs, technological feasibility and the possibility to be achieved in a reasonable period of time. On the contrary, fission is portrayed as a hazardous source of energy, expensive when compared to research costs of renewables, hardly a long-term energy option, susceptible to contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or rogue military use. Fukushima accident was consistently discussed in the context of safety problems of nuclear power plants and in many cases appeared not as an isolated event but rather as a reminder of previous nuclear disasters such as Three Miles Island and Chernobyl.

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“…The international consensus on waste disposal [1] favors emplacement of waste in a stable geological formation with multiple engineered barriers to radionuclide release, including the waste form, waste container, drip shields, and compacted clay, augmenting natural barriers such as unsaturated rock. The solid waste form represents the first and most essential safeguard in any long-term waste disposal strategy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Modeling the Degradation of Ceramic Waste Forms

Devanathan¹,

Gao²,

X³

2011

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We identify the state of the art, gaps in current understanding, and key research needs in the area of modeling the long-term degradation of ceramic waste forms for nuclear waste disposition. The directed purpose of this report is to define a roadmap for Waste IPSC needs to extend capabilities of waste degradation to ceramic waste forms, which overlaps with the needs of the subcontinuum scale of FMM (fundamental methods and method) interests. The key knowledge gaps are in the areas of i) methodology for developing reliable interatomic potentials to model the complex atomic-level interactions in waste forms; ii) characterization of water interactions at ceramic surfaces and interfaces; and iii) extension of atomic-level insights to the long time and distance scales relevant to the problem of actinide and fission product immobilization.

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A Nuclear Solution to Climate Change?

Abstract: has had a good safety record, with the ma-

Cited by 98 publications

References 1 publication

Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source

Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source

The Fukushima nuclear disaster and its effects on media framing of fission and fusion energy technologies

Challenges in Modeling the Degradation of Ceramic Waste Forms

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