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There's a lot of controversy these days about the future of #nuclearenergy in a warming world. Often lost in the discussion: the perspective of historians who study the promise and peril of nuclear power in the past. Earlier this year, we edited a series on exactly that topic.
In our 1st article, I joined co-editors @Danny__Mac__ and @jburnford to give my take on the nuclear question. I argue that nuclear should have a modest role in power generation for some time, partly because the risks of #climatechange are just too high. historicalclimatology.com/blog/environme…
In our 2nd article, @nelangst articulates some of my thoughts better than I could. She explains the potential of new fission designs and gives a history of what happened to carbon emissions when old plants shut down. historicalclimatology.com/blog/closing-n…
In our 3rd piece, @katebrownMIT describes the terrible toll of the Chernobyl disaster, and explains why nuclear fission can't be a "speedy and safe" solution to #climatechange. historicalclimatology.com/blog/next-gene…
In our 4th piece, @awatson8381 draws on the work of @CharlesCMann to argue that we should think first and foremost about how we can reduce the amount of energy we use (not so much about how we might produce more). historicalclimatology.com/blog/only-dram…
In our 5th article, @EH_Georgetown PhD @RobynneMellor gives a powerful account of the human toll of the front end of the nuclear cycle: the mining that doomed many to early deaths. She also describes the enduring problems with managing nuclear waste. historicalclimatology.com/blog/march-13t…
In our 6th article, my @GUHistory colleague Toshihiro Higuchi surveys one widely overlooked problem with nuclear energy as a solution to climate change: its potential to widely disseminate nuclear technology, and so nuclear weapons. historicalclimatology.com/blog/the-nucle…
Finally, in our last piece, @seankheraj argues that historians should work to uncover histories of societies and communities that learned how to make do with less energy. historicalclimatology.com/blog/more-ener…
All of these articles offer perspectives on #nuclearenergy that you'll rarely find elsewhere, and all make for stimulating reading. If we opt for more nuclear power, we should be fully aware of what we're signing up for - and that must involve a thorough look at the past.
I should add: all articles were published not only by @ClimateHist at HistoricalClimatology.com, but also by @ActiveHist and @NiCHE_Canada. A good example, I think, of people working together to amplify #envhist.
