Nuclear power in a warming world

The report argues that while nuclear power produces few global warming emissions, its expansion poses significant risks of radioactive releases from accidents or terrorism and increases the likelihood of nuclear proliferation. It finds that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) suffers from a poor safety culture and inadequate enforcement of standards. The authors recommend reinstating a ban on reprocessing, internationalizing uranium enrichment, and requiring new reactors to be significantly safer than current designs. Specifically, it identifies the Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) as the only new design with potential for significant safety and security improvements, while criticizing the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) for increasing proliferation risks without providing waste disposal benefits.

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fails to adequately enforce existing safety standards due to a poor internal 'safety culture,' which has led to serious safety problems at plants.
• Current U.S. security standards for nuclear facilities are insufficient to defend against credible threats, and the NRC's Design Basis Threat (DBT) is unrealistically modest and influenced by industry pressure to limit costs.
• The risk of nuclear proliferation and terrorism increases if reprocessing is included in the fuel cycle, as it converts plutonium into a form that is easier to steal and divert.
• The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) is criticized for increasing proliferation and terrorism risks and offering no actual waste disposal benefits.
• Among new reactor designs, only the Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) has the potential to be significantly safer and more secure than current reactors, provided the NRC requires it to withstand commercial aircraft impacts.
• The Price-Anderson Act reduces financial incentives for reactor owners and vendors to improve safety by severely limiting their liability for accidents.
• Spent fuel pools are highly vulnerable to terrorist attacks because they lack containment buildings, making the transfer of fuel to hardened dry casks a critical security priority.
• A permanent geologic repository is the preferred long-term disposal method for nuclear waste, but there is a lack of scientific and technical consensus regarding the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.
• The NRC's use of probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) is flawed due to omitted data and inconsistent methodology, which has led to dangerous decisions, such as allowing the Davis-Besse plant to continue operating despite severe degradation.
• The French nuclear program demonstrates that high dependency on nuclear power increases vulnerability to 'common-mode' phenomena, such as heat waves reducing cooling water availability.

APA

Gronlund, L., Lochbaum, D., & Lyman, E. (2007). Nuclear power in a warming world. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf

Chicago

Gronlund, Lisbeth, David Lochbaum, and Edwin Lyman. Nuclear power in a warming world. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gronlund |first1=Lisbeth |last2=Lochbaum |first2=David |last3=Lyman |first3=Edwin |title=Nuclear power in a warming world |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=December 2007 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gronlund2007nuclear, author = {Gronlund, Lisbeth and Lochbaum, David and Lyman, Edwin}, title = {{Nuclear power in a warming world}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2007}, month = dec, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }