You are here

James Hansen's Generation IV nuclear advocacy: a deconstruction of nuclear fallacies and fantasies

By: 
Jim Green

Dr James Hansen is rightly admired for his scientific and political work drawing attention to climate change. His advocacy of nuclear power and in particular novel Generation IV nuclear concepts deserves serious scrutiny.

In a nutshell, Dr Hansen (among others) claims that some Generation IV reactors are a triple threat: they can convert weapons-usable (fissile) material and long-lived nuclear waste into low-carbon electricity. Let's take the weapons and waste issues in turn.