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Serious Safety and Security Risks Undercut Nuclear Power's Role in Minimizing Global Warming, New Report Finds

Nuclear Power in a Warming World – Findings and Recommendations in Brief: “Global warming demands a profound transformation in the ways we generate and consume energy. Because nuclear power results in few global warming emissions, an increase in nuclear power could help reduce global warming—but it could also increase the threats to human safety and security. The risks include a massive release of radiation due to a power plant meltdown or terrorist attack, and the death of hundreds of thousands due to the detonation of a nuclear weapon made with materials obtained from a civilian nuclear power system. Minimizing these risks is simply pragmatic: nothing will affect the public acceptability of nuclear power as much as a serious nuclear accident, a terrorist strike on a reactor or spent fuel pool, or the terrorist detonation of a nuclear weapon made from stolen nuclear reactor materials.”

  • Nuclear power in a warming world – Assessing the Risks, Addressing the Challenges, by Lisbeth Gronlund, David Lochbaum, Edwin Lyman – Union of Concerned Scientists, December 2007
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