Nuclear safety

President Barack Obama and Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, are seen in this combination photo as they attend the opening ceremony of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 24, 2014.

Relations with Russia chill, and nuclear security cooperation gets put on ice

Science

The US and Russia have cooperated for two decades to secure Russia’s nuclear stockpile, a program that was a rare bright spot in the relationship between the two powers. But while the dangers haven’t decreased, Russia may be ready to end American aid because of the situation in Ukraine.

A sign reading "Nuclear Power - The Energy for a Better Future" hangs over a street in the town of Futaba, inside the 12-mile radius exclusion zone around Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in a 2012 photo.

One lesson of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown is that Japan’s culture needs to change

Environment

Cleaning up Fukushima

How Safe is Your Nuclear Power Plant?

Nuclear Power Safety Assessment Raises Concerns

Japan Says No More Nukes

As the Japanese prime minister calls a halt to more nuclear plant construction in his country, expert David Lochbaum has a progress report on damage and repair at Japan’s devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant and suggests what might be next for nuclear power.

An Examination of the National Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited Alabama Brown’s Ferry nuclear power plant for a failed valve, that could have hindered efforts to cool one of the reactors in an emergency. This news comes on the heals of the NRC coming under criticism for being too close to the nuclear industry to really be an effective regulator. […]

The World

Remembering Chernobyl

A quarter of a century after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, we revisit the place and the people lived and worked in the evacuation zone.

Japan Raises Severity Rating of Nuclear Crisis

Arts, Culture & Media

Japan has raised the severity rating of its nuclear crisis from level five to the highest level, seven. This decision reflects the total radiation release at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is ongoing, rather than a sudden deterioration.

Japan Nuclear Crisis: Two Weeks Later

It’s been two weeks since the earthquake and tsunami hit Northeastern Japan. Ever since that day, Japanese officials have been working tirelessly to avert a nuclear disaster. Friday morning, Japanese nuclear safety officials said that they suspect that the reactor core at one unit of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have breached. […]