The restart of Japan’s nuclear reactors is good news for climate change. But there are still large psychological barriers to overcome.
Increased oil and gas revenues amid lifted sanctions are set to raise Iran’s economic fortunes, which ease Middle Eastern tensions.
EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh/AAP Image
Opponents of the Iran nuclear deal say it raises the nuclear weapons threat in the region. But Middle East tensions are actually likely to ease as Iran grows richer without being shackled by sanctions.
South Australia’s wind farms have coped without baseload power before - they can do it again.
Fairv8/Wikimedia Commons
Coal closures announced this week in South Australia will cause employment pain, but could also help pave the way for the state to go 100% renewable - something that modelling suggests is eminently possible.
This sign might actually be appealing to treasure hunters in the distant future.
Alan English CPA/Flickr
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?
You need to take a wider view to work out the true greenhouse emissions from nuclear power.
Teollisuuden Voima Oy/Wikimedia Commons
Nuclear power isn’t ‘zero-emission’, as many proponents claim. Factor in uranium mining, power plant construction, and other factors and it has similar emissions to wind power. But that’s still lower than fossil fuels.
Reactor pressure vessel during construction of Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, 1956.
U.S. Department of Energy, Naval Reactors Program
Neil Todreas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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 reactors in Tricastin, France.
Nuclear reactors via www.shutterstock.com
We cannot eliminate the inherent risks of nuclear power but it is rigorously monitored and has a proven performance of delivering zero-carbon electricity.
The Fukushima disaster was a dark chapter for nuclear power - but high-profile accidents are far from the only downside.
EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AAP
Is nuclear power worth it? No, says Mark Diesendorf – it’s never been a major world energy force, it has caused huge accidents, and its greenhouse emissions are higher than many people realise.
Kudankulam is one of seven new nuclear plants being built in India.
IAEA
Asia and Eastern Europe are leading the way, but construction times for new projects are getting longer, and Europe’s dominant energy player, Germany, is turning its back on nuclear.
A nuclear-capable Pakistani missile during testing in 2011. The international community hopes other aspiring nuclear nations can develop nuclear power without the military muscle.
EPA/INTER SERVICES/AAP
Through history, nuclear power has gone hand in hand with the nuclear arms race. But does it have to be this way? Closer international cooperation can help nations embrace nuclear power peacefully.
Talks in Switzerland in late March.
Brendan Smialowski/Reuters
Thorium has several advantages over uranium nuclear power, but it also has its drawbacks. However, the question remains whether it would be the right technology should Australia choose to go nuclear.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill surprised his federal Labor colleagues by announcing a Royal Commission on possibilities for the nuclear industry.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The terms of reference for South Australia’s Royal Commission on the nuclear industry are intentionally broad, meaning that anti-nuclear advocates will have to choose carefully where they direct their efforts.
South Australia already mines uranium. Could it become a nuclear state?
AAP Image/Quasar Resources
South Australian premier Jay Weatherill on Sunday announced a formal inquiry into the future role of the state in the nuclear fuel cycle, which will be tasked with considering options across the full gamut…
Nuclear power plants, like this one in Tennessee, supply almost 20 percent of the electricity in the US.
Nuclear Regulatory Comission
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…
Despite the high capital costs, nuclear ticks boxes.
Kaissa
An experiment in liberalising power markets has been underway in the UK since the 1980s and three phases can be identified. The first ran from around 1989 to 1999, beginning with the privatisation of the…
If Australia’s to have nuclear power, there’ll have to be policies to support it.
flokru/Flickr
No sooner had foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop announced that Australia should take a fresh look at nuclear power than Prime Minister Tony Abbott responded that nuclear power would only be supported…