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Global warming

As well as radioactive wastes, the uranium/nuclear industry releases greenhouse gases, increasing global warming.

At successive steps in the uranium/nuclear cycle, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. This is shown above, with black dots as the carbon rising. The industry also uses enormous amounts of fuel – as electricity and in the huge amounts of oil in transporting uranium, nuclear fuel and wastes.

In the large diagram above – there is one aspect missing in the story of the nuclear cycle, and of its carbon emissions.

This aspect is becoming critical now, with very many reactors, world-wide, reaching the end of their functional life.

How to get rid of them? How to dispose of a huge dead building which has itself become a nuclear waste?

The word “DECOMMISSIONING” – is one of those lovely Wobbly Words – covering up the fact that it really means a huge destruction and engineering job, in which greenhouse gases are released into air, water and land.

Nuclear power plants need plentiful water for cooling so are usually near the sea or on rivers. …….With sea levels likely to rise for at least the next 1,000 years, bolstering the flood defences of the world’s many coastal reactors looks set to become a more costly and time-consuming job — one that could last for centuries……………

Nor are inland river-cooled reactors invulnerable to global warming. Hot weather makes it difficult to keep them cool and operate safely. The hotter it gets, the more frequently they may have to close, just when power demand is highest