Get ready for a righteous fight over plutonium in the UK. The World Nuclear News reports that the UK government is thinking seriously about recycling the country’s civilian plutonium for electric power generation. It has launched consultations on the question of whether to do that, or entrain the stuff permanently in glass logs and...
GNEP
Lock and burn: a clean, peaceful way to prevent terrorists from stealing nuclear weapons
There is a lot of talk of nuclear terrorists these days, and it might be useful to walk through the scenarios in which terrorists might acquire nuclear weapons. Let’s start with the ones we can quickly rule out. At the top of the list is theft of used nuclear fuel from civilian power reactor...
Filthy lucre and nuclear non-proliferation: what keeps them apart
Review the literature on nuclear anti-proliferation, and you get the impression that used fuel from civilian power reactors is a major proliferation threat. Henry Sokolski, a prominent anti-proliferation expert, recently told Nucleonics Week that U.S. loan guarantees for nuclear plants are subsidies that could increase proliferation risks. Why? Because French and Russian companies are...
Jobs now, and a giant step to the low-carbon future
A pall of worry and uncertainty hangs over North America. Two years into the Great Recession, unemployment in the U.S. was 9.6 percent in August; in Canada, 8.1 percent. The problem has become politically crucial. There are congressional mid-terms in the U.S. in November and a minority government in Canada that could fall at any time....
Poisoned rats aren’t ham: a new look at anti-nuclear propaganda
Normally I’m in favour of nuclear recycling. When it means re-using the material in used nuclear fuel, I’m all for it. After all, I support the Three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. But when it means recycling tired propaganda, my favour declines. For example, anti-nuclear activists try to fool others into believing it’s not possible to recycle...
Polls
Loading ...