nuclear-news

The false promise of nuclear power

THE LANCET, Volume 408, Issue 10551p214-215July 18, 2026, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01304-8/fulltext?rss=yes

Philip J Landrigan^a,b Send email to landrigp@bc.edu ∙ Brita E Lundberg^c

By focusing narrowly on reactor operations, portraying reactor hazards as “extremely small”, and ignoring nuclear energy’s other dangers, Talha Burki’s World Report¹ supports the mendacious narrative that nuclear power is a “safe, clean, and affordable” solution to both rising electricity demand and climate change.²

Uranium, the fuel of nuclear power, is radioactive and carcinogenic.³ It endangers health across the entire nuclear fuel cycle. Uranium miners suffer increased risk of lung cancer. Nuclear fuel production workers are exposed to uranium hexafluoride and radon.⁴ Reactor operators and nearby communities are exposed to radioisotopes; in the USA, 115 000 cancer deaths since 2000 are attributed to residence near nuclear plants.⁵ All reactors produce waste that will remain radioactive for millennia.⁶ Reactor decommissioning liberates this waste, exposing workers and communities.

Nuclear power is unique among energy sources in its potential for catastrophe—meltdown, fuel diversion, and weaponisation. A life-cycle analysis of 388 nuclear plants finds that all reactors, large and small, are susceptible to nuclear incidents.⁷

Nuclear power is not climate neutral. Nuclear power releases 66 g of greenhouse gases per kWh of electricity, which is far less than any fossil fuel, but more than any renewable. Most greenhouse-gas releases occur during uranium mining and milling.⁸

Nuclear power is neither cheap nor affordable. The levelised cost of nuclear energy has increased by 47% since 2009.² Current economic analyses do not count health-related costs and underestimate construction costs. Construction of the most recent US reactor cost over US$35 billion,^9,10 more than twice its original budget.

By contrast, the cost of renewables has plummeted. Since 2010, solar power costs have decreased by 90%, wind by 70%,¹¹ and batteries by 99%.¹²

Nuclear power is economically viable only when it receives massive subsidies, tax breaks, and liability exemptions.Nuclear power is a dangerous distraction. It is time to move beyond it and invest in renewables.

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July 22, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster