Nuclear

16/08/23
Author: 
Tom Murphy, originally published by Do the Math
Teaser photo credit: By Lawrence Livermore National Security – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19898650

Aug. 16. 2023

Great. The fusion hype is bad enough already. Now its resurgence is going to interrupt the series of posts I’m in the middle of publishing in order for this post to be “timely.”

The first (and much bigger) round of breathless excitement came in December 2022 when the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) announced a (legitimate) breakthrough in achieving fusion: more energy came out of the target than laser energy injected.

23/07/23
Author: 
Paul Hockenos
Left: Mockup of a the top third of a small module reactor made by NuScale, the only SMR developer with a design approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Visual: Courtesy of NuScale/Oregon State University/Flickr

"Even if the unlikely rollout of SMRs eventually happens, it will unfold too late to curb the climate crisis. . . . . .  Meanwhile, the siren song of nuclear energy is diverting critical resources from the urgent task of building out clean technologies."

Jul 20, 2023

04/03/23
Author: 
Joshua Frank
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Ukraine.

Mar. 3, 2023

Nuclear Armageddon Games in Ukraine

The Nuclear “War” We Get in Ukraine May Not Be the One We Expect

In 1946, Albert Einstein shot off a telegram to several hundred American leaders and politicians warning that the “unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” Einstein’s forecast remains prescient. Nuclear calamity still knocks.

06/01/23
Author: 
Cloe Logan
Illustration by Ata Ojani - What’s an SMR?

"Are SMRs viable? That is the biggest question surrounding SMRs. Although the plans for these next-generation nuclear units might hypothetically work, their viability hasn’t been proven anywhere. 

Jan. 4, 2023

Canada has big climate goals and we need ambitious solutions to meet them. The federal government is banking on a new generation of nuclear technology to help us clean up power grids and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. But will it work?

14/11/22
Author: 
John Woodside & Natasha Bulowski
Illustration by Ata Ojani

Nov. 10, 2022

Hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists including at least a dozen from Canada are in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for this year’s United Nations’ climate conference, a data analysis from Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global Witness reveals.

15/10/22
Author: 
Ariel Levite and George Perkovich
A photo dated September 1945 of the remains of the Prefectural Industry Promotion Building after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

For Kyiv and its allies, negotiating an imperfect peace is preferable to risking a catastrophic nuclear confrontation.

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