Nukewatch

Working for a nuclear-free future since 1979

  • Issues
    • Direct Action
    • Environmental Justice
    • Nuclear Power
      • Chernobyl
      • Fukushima
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • On The Bright Side
    • Radiation Exposure
    • Radioactive Waste
    • Renewable Energy
    • Uranium Mining
    • US Bombs Out of Germany
  • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archives
  • Resources
    • Nuclear Heartland Book
    • Fact Sheets
    • Reports, Studies & Publications
      • The New Nuclear Weapons: $1.74 Trillion for H-bomb Profiteers and Fake Cleanups
      • Nuclear Power: Dead In the Water It Poisoned
      • Thorium Fuel’s Advantages as Mythical as Thor
      • Greenpeace on Fukushima 2016
      • Drinking Water at Risk: Toxic Military Wastes Haunt Lake Superior
    • Nukewatch in the News
    • Links
    • Videos
  • About
    • About Nukewatch
    • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
    • Action Alerts!
    • Calendar
    • Workshops
  • Donate

August 2, 2021 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

“Advanced” Reactors: Not So

Nukewatch Quarterly Summer 2021

Promoters of “advanced” nuclear reactors tout them as the best future energy source, but the reality is familiar and dismal. A new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that new reactor designs generate large volumes of radioactive wastes (same as always), are no safer to operate than old designs, and actually increase the risk of radioactive materials falling into the wrong hands.

Untested new designs, often promoted by companies that have lost money from the closure of old reactors, are usually called molten salt reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactors, or high-temperature gas reactors, and are as unsafe as they sound, the UCS says. The schemes all require fuel reprocessing or special uranium fuel, both of which involve complicated supply chains and encourage nuclear terrorism. As usual, questions about long-term storage of (especially liquid) radioactive waste created by the reactors go unanswered by proponents. 

This makes it doubly dissapointing that in his recent infrastructure plan President Biden included new reactors as an “important technology.” Tests to establish that the new designs are at all safe will take years. By the time any new designs are properly tested, the UCS said, scientists and engineers could have used government funding to scale-up safe, cheaper, and more reliable renewables like wind and solar. Advancing with nuclear likely leaves us with old fashioned problems that are hugely expensive, dangerous from the start, and deadly waste generators. 

— “3 Advanced Reactor Systems to Watch by 2030,” Energy.gov, April 12; “Not So Advanced,” Natural Resources Defense Council, March 24; “Scientists Say Advanced Nuclear Reactors Not Safer than Conventional Plants,” Insurance Journal, March 22; “‘Advanced’ Isn’t Always Better,” Union of Concerned Scientists, March 18, 2021

Filed Under: Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Power, Quarterly Newsletter

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Donate

Facebook

Categories

  • B61 Bombs in Europe
  • Chernobyl
  • Counterfeit Reactor Parts
  • Depleted Uranium
  • Direct Action
  • Environment
  • Environmental Justice
  • Fukushima
  • Lake Superior Barrels
  • Military Spending
  • Newsletter Archives
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Power
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Office News
  • On The Bright Side
  • Photo Gallery
  • Quarterly Newsletter
  • Radiation Exposure
  • Radioactive Waste
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sulfide Mining
  • Through the Prism of Nonviolence
  • Uncategorized
  • Uranium Mining
  • US Bombs Out of Germany
  • War
  • Weekly Column

Contact Us

(715) 472-4185
nukewatch1@lakeland.ws

Address:
740A Round Lake Road
Luck, Wisconsin 54853
USA

Donate To Nukewatch

News & Information on Nuclear Weapons,
Power, Waste & Nonviolent Resistance

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

© 2023 · Nukewatch