Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2021
The August 2021 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has rejected nuclear power for any role in confronting the crisis. Nuclear News online says about the report that “nuclear power is barely mentioned and when it is, its negative effects on climate and environment are made clear.” The UN’s 3,000-page analysis warns of possible radiation disasters and says the rapid warming of surface waters may cause shutdowns because reactors can “be challenged when using warmer river waters for cooling.” Meanwhile, the World Nuclear Association has complained in a letter that every application made by nuclear groups for exhibits at the UN’s 26th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26), being held in Glasgow, Scotland in November, had been rejected. The complaint was laughed off by some. “Having failed with its ridiculous claim that nuclear is cheap, the latest wheeze from the nuclear industry is to tell us that nuclear reactors are the answer to climate change,” said Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. “With renewables and energy efficiency cheaper and quicker to build and run than nuclear, [lobbyists] have already lost this argument and should have no place to spout their lies at COP26.”
— The Ferrett (Scotland), Aug. 19; and NuclearNews.net, Aug. 10, 2021
Leave a Reply