Dispatches: Obama's Science Adviser on the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
Nuclear Accidents
For Some, Fukushima Evacuations Were Worse Than Radiation
A study of nursing homes near the nuclear site suggest the physical and mental stress of evacuation took more years off people's lives than radiation will.
Will Japan Follow Germany’s Path to Green Energy?
As Japan shuts down the last of its nuclear reactors, Germany shows the way to an energy-efficient future with its rapid timetable for conversion to renewables.
Nuclear Renaissance in Space
As the U.S. prepares to relaunch domestic production of plutonium-238, the space community wishes to assure the public of its safety. Are they right?
Is Radiation Actually Good For Some of Us?
By age 10, most people are exposed to enough radiation to be at risk, but the science is so complicated that exposure could even have benefits.
The No Nukes That Turned to Slow Nukes
The 10-day long protest at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant 30 years ago this month may have been the most significant anti-nuclear power demonstration ever held in the U.S.
Germany Crafts Its Nuclear Power Exit Strategy
Phasing out nuclear power around the world is easier said than done; the Germans (and Japanese) are, so far, the most serious about it.
Nuclear Power Safety From an Expert
Nuclear engineer Cesare Silvi studied unlikely outside threats to nuclear plants in Italy, which soured him on the energy source and caused him to go solar.
Nuclear Power's History in the US: Miracle to Demon
Over its short lifetime, nuclear power has migrated from being the miracle of America's energy future to an at times unruly nuclear demon, says historian Patrick McCray.
Nuclear Power's Future: Improving Technology, Incompetent People
In this last of a three-part podcast, Dr. Theo Theofanous talks about the health impacts of radiation leaking from the crippled Japanese nuclear power plant and about the future of nuclear power.
Japanese Nuclear Crisis: How Does This End?
In the second of three parts, engineering professor and nuclear risk expert Theo Theofanous discusses the options Japan has to avert even greater catastrophe at the badly damaged Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant.
Behind the Japanese Nuclear Reactor Crisis
Engineering professor Theo Theofanous, long recognized for his work on risk and accident analysis specifically focused on nuclear reactors, begins the first of three podcasts on the Fukushima incident with Curiouser & Curiouser host Jai Ranganathan.
A Physicist Recalls His Life in Kiev During Chernobyl
Valery N. Bliznyuk was a young physicist in Kiev 25 years ago during the Chernobyl disaster. His recollections of the slow spread of accurate information about what was really happening suggest parallels with the current nuclear crisis in Japan.
U.S. faced 14 Nuclear Near-Misses last Year
In a report planned before Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests that U.S. nuclear regulators are way too complacent about the possibility of a catastrophe.
Examining Past Nuclear Accidents
We provide some background and context for the nuclear-power crisis in Japan.
Taking Stock After America's Worst Nuclear Accident
Human error helped worsen a nuclear meltdown just outside Los Angeles, and now human inertia has stymied the radioactive cleanup for half a century.