Are nuclear power plants safe?

Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors. The risks from western nuclear power plants, in terms of the consequences of an accident or terrorist attack, are minimal compared with other commonly accepted risks. Nuclear power plants are very robust. read more

While nuclear power plants are designed to be safe in their operation and safe in the event of any malfunction or accident, no industrial activity can be represented as entirely risk-free. Incidents and accidents may happen, and as in other industries, what is learned will lead to a progressive improvement in safety. read more

That makes the fail-safe nuclear power plants being developed at the Shanghai Institute of paramount urgency. The world needs nuclear energy more than ever if we are to limit climate change. After my virtual tour, Kun Chen, one of the molten-salt program’s lead scientists, walked me back to the institute’s main administration building. read more

That modeling took two representative nuclear power plants in the U.S.—a pressurized-water reactor from the Surry Power Station in Virginia and a boiling-water reactor from Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania—and attempted to assess what would happen in a severe accident, such as the loss of all electric power as a result of an earthquake, among other scenarios. read more