Articles on Nuclear reactor

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After spending $9 billion on a nuclear power plant construction in South Carolina, project developers have pulled the plug. SCE&G

August 11, 2017

Why the withering nuclear power industry threatens US national security

Michael E. Webber, University of Texas at Austin

Nuclear power plants don't just pump out steady, carbon-free electricity; they also help produce the people the US needs for nuclear weapons inspections.

Large nuclear reactors could fade into history, proponents of small modular nuclear reactors argue. The reality may be more complex. (Shutterstock)

July 24, 2017

Small nuclear power reactors: Future or folly?

MV Ramana, University of British Columbia

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

November 23, 2016

Vietnam cancels nuclear reactor deal: a lesson for South Africa

David Fig, University of Cape Town

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

November 22, 2016

Is Fukushima still safe after the latest earthquake?

Tony Irwin, Australian National University

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.

The country needs more nuclear power – but not more Hinkleys. Ganibal / shutterstock

September 16, 2016

Hinkley C must be the first of many new nuclear plants

Simon Hogg, Durham University

This is a big opportunity for smaller reactors that can be built quickly and cheaply.

Radiation exposure as a child can increase cancer risk later in life. But by how much? Gleb Garanich/Reuters

April 26, 2016

What we learned from Chernobyl about how radiation affects our bodies

Ausrele Kesminiene, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

Chernobyl is already responsible for up to 5,000 cases of cancer in Europe.

After one reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant caught fire and exploded in 1986, the whole site was encased in a concrete sarcophagus. Vladimir Repik/Reuters

April 25, 2016

Forget Fukushima: Chernobyl still holds record as worst nuclear accident for public health

Timothy J. Jorgensen, Georgetown University

The meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 exposed 572 million people to radiation. No other nuclear accident holds a candle to that level of public health impact.

April 22, 2016

Chernobyl: new tomb will make site safe for 100 years

Claire Corkhill, University of Sheffield

Engineers have devised an innovative way to dismantle Chernobyl's reactor while preventing further radiation escaping.

September 28, 2015

Simpler, smaller, cheaper? Alternatives to Britain’s new nuclear power plant

Martin Freer, University of Birmingham

The UK government looks set to allow EDF to build a new kind of nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point. But are there better nuclear technologies we could use?

Protesters at the restart of Japan’s Sendai 1 reactor. AAP Image/NEWZULU/MUNESUKE YAMAMOTO

August 16, 2015

Japan fires up nuclear power again, but can it ever be safe enough?

Ben Heard, University of Adelaide and Barry W. Brook, University of Tasmania

The restart of Japan's nuclear reactors is good news for climate change. But there are still large psychological barriers to overcome.

No one’s a fan of nuclear waste. What if we could just recycle it all? General Physics Laboratory (GPL)

May 21, 2015

Harvesting usable fuel from nuclear waste – and dealing with the last chemical troublemakers

Mikael Nilsson, University of California, Irvine

Even the biggest proponents of nuclear power can't ignore 10,000 metric tons of spent fuel globally every year. What if we could recycle every last atom of nuclear waste?

Reactor pressure vessel during construction of Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, 1956. U.S. Department of Energy, Naval Reactors Program

May 20, 2015

How nuclear power-generating reactors have evolved since their birth in the 1950s

Neil Todreas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The basics of fission physics have stayed the same over the decades. But power-generating reactor designs have evolved, turning to new coolants, recycled fuel and other innovations.

Nuclear power plants, like this one in Tennessee, supply almost 20 percent of the electricity in the US. Nuclear Regulatory Comission

February 5, 2015

What’s inside the first new US nuclear plant in two decades

John Lee, University of Michigan

It’s been almost two decades since a new nuclear plant opened for business in the United States. But that’s about to change as construction wraps up on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Unit 2…

South Korea relies heavily on nuclear power. Barbara Walton/EPA

December 22, 2014

If South Korea’s nuclear plant staff are vulnerable, then so are the reactors

Alan Woodward, University of Surrey

Claude Shannon, who many consider the father of modern information theory, wrote a paper in 1949 in which he pointed out that security should never be based upon your enemy’s ignorance of how your system…

July 21, 2014

Why are Fukushima engineers creating walls of ice under a contaminated nuclear plant?

Jonathan Bridge, University of Liverpool

Engineers at Fukushima nuclear power plant have been trying to create a £185m ice wall to isolate contaminated water from mixing with groundwater. However, there has been a steady stream of news articles…

Top contributors

Ben Heard
Doctoral student, University of Adelaide
Barry W. Brook
ARC Australian Laureate Professor, University of Tasmania
MV Ramana
Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia
Alan Woodward
Visiting Professor, University of Surrey
Martin Freer
Professor of Nuclear Physics, Director of Birmingham Centre of Nuclear Education and Research, University of Birmingham
Jonathan Bridge
Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Sheffield Hallam University
John Lee
Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan
Mikael Nilsson
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California, Irvine
Neil Todreas
Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael E. Webber
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Deputy Director of the Energy Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Timothy J. Jorgensen
Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program and Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University
Claire Corkhill
Research Fellow in nuclear waste disposal, University of Sheffield
Ausrele Kesminiene
Deputy Section Head Section of Environment and Radiation at IARC, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
Simon Hogg
Executive Director of the Durham Energy Institute, Durham University
Tony Irwin
Visiting Lecturer, Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Australian National University