The authoritative guide to ensuring science and technology make life on Earth better, not worse.

Nuclear Energy

AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN. This field of ceramic nose-cones represents, in miniature, all the warheads in the US nuclear arsenal at the height of the Cold War, along with the nuclear submarines, bombers, and ballistic missiles designed to deliver them. Estimates put the warhead count at around 25,000. Denver sculptress Barbara Donachy created this installation to show what such a concentration of nuclear weaponry would look like all in one place. Her display contains 33,561 pieces representing 31,000 warheads, 1,799 ballistic missiles, 324 intercontinental bombers, and 37 nuclear submarines. Amber Waves of Grain installation by Barbara Donachy, Boston Science Museum, Boston, Massachusetts. February 13, 1985. Photograph copyright by Robert Del Tredici, The Atomic Photographers Guild. Used with permission.

Will Canada remain a credible nonproliferation partner?

By Susan O’Donnell, Gordon Edwards | Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk, Nuclear Weapons, Opinion

SMR research in lab

Can small modular reactors help mitigate climate change?

By Arjun Makhijani, M.V. Ramana | Climate Change, Nuclear Energy

It’s time to reignite US-Russia cooperation in space. Nuclear power may hold the key

By Stephen Buono, Jake Hecla, Vladimir Kobezskii, Julien de Troullioud de Lanversin, Katie Mummah | Nuclear Energy

Houston, are we going to have a problem with space nuclear power?

By Beau Rideout | Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk, Opinion, Voices of Tomorrow

A pragmatic turn in Geneva

By Mariana Budjeryn | Analysis, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Weapons, Opinion

SMR control room simulator

Are small modular reactors the solution to climate change? Some Canadians think so.

By Charles Mandel | Climate Change, Nuclear Energy

The underground Exploratory Studies Facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada

Opportunities for US-Russian collaboration on the safe disposal of nuclear waste

By Cameron Tracy, Sulgiye Park, Maria Plevaka, Ekaterina Bogdanova | Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Waste

Fukushima Sea Water Sampling-3. The damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as seen during a sea-water sampling boat journey, 7 November 2013. IAEA marine monitoring experts were sent to Japan to observe sea water sampling and data analysis. Photo accessed by Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Why Japan’s plan for Fukushima wastewater lacks public trust

By Tatsujiro Suzuki | Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk

Kateryna Pavlova served as acting head of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone during the 2020 wildfires and COVID-19 pandemic. Photo permission from Kateryna Pavlova.

Kateryna Pavlova battled a pandemic, wildfires, corruption, and sexism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

By Susan D’Agostino | Interviews, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk

Alley of abandoned villages - 162 plaques with the names of permanently evacuated settlements during 1986-1991 after the Chernobyl accident. Credit: Margarita Kalinina-Pohl (2018).

It’s not radioactive Disneyland: Visit Chernobyl, but respect it.

By Margarita Kalinina-Pohl | Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk

Is the US nuclear community prepared for the extreme weather climate change is bringing?

By Susan D’Agostino | Analysis, Climate Change, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Risk, Nuclear Weapons

artist's illustration of a fusion power plant

National Academies calls for a fusion pilot plant

By Robert J. Goldston | Climate Change, Fusion Energy, Nuclear Energy