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Articles on Nuclear reactor

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The last operating reactor at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, reactor No. 6, has been safely shut down. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

Cold shutdown reduces risk of disaster at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – but combat around spent fuel still poses a threat

The power plant’s sixth reactor has been shut down, all but eliminating the risk of a nuclear meltdown. But fighting at the site could still release radioactive material.
Florida’s Turkey Point Nuclear Plant shut down 12 hours before Hurricane Andrew made landfall in 1992. AP Photo/Phil Sandlin

Nuclear reactors in hurricanes: 5 questions answered

Lessons learned from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011 have changed how utilities brace for big storms.
NuScale Power aims to build the nation’s first advanced small modular reactor. U.S. Department of Energy

The nuclear industry is making a big bet on small power plants

Advanced small modular reactors, known as SMRs, will probably have many advantages over older technology. But it’s not yet known how they will stack up against other sources of electricity.
Assumptions, authoritarianism and errors are just a few of the ways in which the world could be confronted by a nuclear disaster, physicist and disarmament expert MV Ramana suggests in his book reviews. Shutterstock

Worth reading in the Trump era: Nuclear nightmares, authoritarianism and climate change

A nuclear physicist and disarmament expert recommends reading on nuclear disasters, weapons, authoritarianism and climate change.
Large nuclear reactors could fade into history, proponents of small modular nuclear reactors argue. The reality may be more complex. (Shutterstock)

Small nuclear power reactors: Future or folly?

Nuclear industry players tout small modular reactors as an “inherently safe,” cost-effective source of electricity. The reality may be less attractive.
A miner takes a break from sorting through coal at a mine in Vietnam. The country relies heavily on coal imports. Julian Abram Wainwright/EPA

Vietnam cancels nuclear reactor deal: a lesson for South Africa

Vietnam recently cancelled it’s plans for the procurement of nuclear energy. There are lessons South Africa can take from this.
The Fukushima Daini plant, 11km from the ill-fated Daiichi station, suffered a technical problem in one of its spent fuel cooling ponds. EPA/Kimimasa Mayama

Is Fukushima still safe after the latest earthquake?

The latest earthquake off Japan’s east coast was an ominous reminder of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. But despite a technical hitch at one of Fukushima’s other reactors, there was no repeat this time.

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