Nuclear energy: A distraction on the road to climate solutions

ABSTRACT

Much needs to happen, and happen quickly, to avoid the worst climate catastrophes. Despite its low-carbon virtues, nuclear energy is anything but quick. At its best, nuclear energy might provide some load-balancing ballast for renewable energies; at its worst, it will slow the transition to a net-zero emissions future and should therefore be trimmed from our set of options. Continuing to support nuclear energy at the expense of faster and cheaper alternatives for cutting greenhouse gas emissions is a losing strategy.

KEYWORDS:

• Nuclear energy
• climate change
• small modular reactors
• advanced reactors

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Sydney Hamilton of George Washington University, for her research assistance with the article, which received support from the MacArthur Foundation.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Sharon Squassoni

Sharon Squassoni is research professor at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, at the George Washington University. She has specialized in nuclear nonproliferation, arms control and security policy for three decades, serving in the US government at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the State Department, and the Congressional Research Service. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany, a master’s in public management from the University of Maryland, and a master’s in national security strategy from the National War College. She is a member of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.