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Too Hot to Handle? The Future of Civil Nuclear Power

Frank Barnaby and James Kemp, with a foreword by David Howarth MP, July 2007

Supporters of nuclear power claim that the security risks can be managed. However, this briefing paper clearly shows that a worldwide nuclear renaissance is beyond the capacity of the nuclear industry to deliver and would stretch to breaking point the capacity of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor and safeguard civil nuclear power.

Even a failed terrorist attack on one of the first new builds would most probably cause subsequent new build to halt in many countries. If this happened, the authors argue that governments would need to again review energy policy - minus civil nuclear power - further delaying progress towards a sustainable and secure energy policy and possibly causing the UK and other countries to miss the window of opportunity to tackle climate change.

This briefing paper is one of a series of reports and factsheets published as part of ORG's Secure energy project.