Nuclear Energy
Introduction
Safety
Nuclear has a bad reputation after a few famous plants had their safety features disabled, or suffered damage from earthquakes, but historically speaking they have caused far fewer deaths by energy production than most other types of energy.
With new innovations this technology is becoming increasingly safe, even at the end of life options appear to be improving.
Hydrogen (despite being advertised as clean) is generally created using fossil fuels, and has not caught on as well as other energy types, but could be an important solution for vehicles including ships. By using renewable energies and nuclear we may be able to ween ourselves off oil much faster.
Benefits of Nuclear
Dangers of Nuclear
Solutions
Cleaner & Newer Nuclear Technology
Dams
Dams pose a danger to people and wildlife both when they are built (communities are surrendered while any wildlife such as plants and any animals that aren't able to escape) end up drowning. Dams can cause habitat and species loss by changing aquatic ecosystems. For example, fish that need shallow, fast running water die off in deep, slow moving water, while migratory fish like salmon and eels can't reproduce due to waterway blockage.
Heavy rains, aging infrastructure, and other circumstances may cause dams to fail which can also cause deaths. As climate change ramps up, heavier storm and rain events increase the risk of dam failures.
Decaying matter inside dams produces methane and other greenhouse gases, making dams one of the less-eco-friendly options.
Types of Energy Storage
We often think of batteries when we thing of storage, as well as the environmental issues such as mining and end-of-life pollution. However there are more options for energy storage than many people realize.
Click the Battery Technology button to learn more about these options and as well as which companies are already offering these solutions.
Organizations
International
DeSmog "was founded in January 2006 to clear the PR pollution that is clouding the science and solutions to climate change. Our team quickly became the world’s number one source for accurate, fact-based information regarding global warming misinformation campaigns.
DeSmog continues to expand our focus to other areas where misinformation has eroded public understanding and political action to address critical societal challenges, such as meeting the world’s energy needs, confronting environmental racism, and ensuring a just transition to a sustainable economic paradigm.
Through hard-hitting investigative journalism, in-depth research, and collaborations with other investigative outlets, DeSmog works tirelessly to provide climate accountability and serve as an antidote to science denial and disinformation. Supported by science and dedicated to equity, our team is helping to clear the way for clean energy solutions, environmental justice, and the preservation of democracy.
Now a global organization, with reporters and researchers spanning North and South America, the UK, Europe, Africa, and beyond, the DeSmog team works to expose corporate misinformation from major fossil fuel interests, including the likes of ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and others with a documented history of undermining climate science and action. We conduct original research and reporting on a range of issues in the broader energy policy dialogue. In many cases, we find the same tactics, and many of the same people, that DeSmog first began exposing in our early research into the climate denial industry, are now sitting alongside a new breed of lobbyist, downplaying potential solutions to climate change, and promoting questionable “silver-bullet” solutions.
Our research databases provide vital information on over 800 organizations and individuals responsible for spreading misinformation on a range of energy and science topics. We first started reporting on Koch Industries’ funding of climate denial in 2007, and continue to track Koch-linked groups and operatives in our Koch Network Database. In 2020, we added two new databases — the Air Pollution Lobbying Database and Agribusiness Database — showing how vested interests are working to slow action across multiple sectors."
Grants & Funding
Anything currently listed is merely a suggestion and hasn't been confirmed as a definite source of funding for nuclear.
North America
USA
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) Program "provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants."
Maps
International
The Global Integrated Power Tracker (GIPT) (Interactive) is a multi-sector dataset of power stations and facilities worldwide. The tracker provides unit-level information on thermal power (coal, oil, gas, nuclear, geothermal, bioenergy) and renewables (solar, wind, hydro). The tracker includes data on unit capacity, status, ownership, fuel type, start year, retirement date, geolocation, and more. Each power facility is linked to a profile page, hosted on GEM.wiki, that provides further information.
Global Energy Monitor’s eight power sector trackers provide the source of underlying data: the Global Coal Plant Tracker, Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, Global Solar Power Tracker, Global Wind Power Tracker, Global Hydropower Tracker, Global Geothermal Power Tracker, Global Bioenergy Power Tracker, Global Nuclear Power Tracker."
The Global Nuclear Power Tracker (GNPT) (Interactive) is a worldwide dataset of nuclear power facilities.
The GNPT catalogs every nuclear power plant unit of any capacity and of any status, including operating, announced, pre-construction, under construction, shelved, cancelled, mothballed, or retired.
A nuclear power plant may consist of a single unit or of several units, which may be constructed simultaneously or at different times.
Nuclear plants of various technology types are tracked in the dataset, including pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, fast breeder reactors, and others.
Each nuclear power plant included in the tracker is linked to a wiki page on the GEM wiki."KFW: Interactive World Map of Renewable Energy Interactive map shows the solar, wind, and hydropower usage of each country. Just click a country on the map, or select the name via the dropdown. Data accurate as of (at least) 2017.
Our World In Data: Share of Primary Energy from Renewable Sources, 2021 "Renewable energy sources include hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, bioenergy, wave, and tidal. They don't include traditional biofuels, which can be a key energy source, especially in lower-income settings." Interactive maps shows current and historical renewables use with a pop up graph for each country.
Be careful with the pop up graphs on this page because they only go as high as the maximum current or historical percent level, meaning some graphs only go as high as 17% or 50% renewable energy in the grid mix, but will look much higher if you glance at them with the assumption each is set with a maximum of 100%."
Europe
Nuclear Power Generation in 2020
Wind Energy Generation percent by country in 2021
North America
Map of Power Generation in the Northwest interactive map allows you to see the types and sizes of projects 1898 to present (2023), and slide the timeline handles to see what types of energy production where built during which time periods.
Further Reading
We try to focus on available technology and solutions that are already in use, but if you want to read about emerging technologies on the horizon, or maybe even being tested somewhere near you, then the article Novel Renewable Technologies That Could Power the Future lists a number that we haven't heard about anywhere else.
You may also be interested in some of our other pages covering related topics.
