While the vast majority of countries are against the development and use of nuclear weapons, attitudes vary when it comes to the development and use of nuclear power. But the use of nuclear power has a vast range of environmental, health, and security risks.
These have been catastrophic accidents at nuclear power plants, such as in Fukushima in 2011 or Chernobyl in 1986, which have resulted in devastating environmental and health impacts.
Nuclear power usage is problematic at each stage of its cycle, from the mining of uranium to the storage of radioactive waste. Nuclear power also has risks for nuclear weapon proliferation, as the materials used in power production are also used in nuclear weapons.
Nuclear power is often presented as a solution to the problem of climate change, which is caused by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil energy use and other sources. Nuclear energy has been proposed as a carbon-free technology with the potential for a safe, clean, and cheap supply of electric power that is able to mitigate climate change. But nuclear power is not carbon-free, nor is it “green”--it is toxic and devastating to human and environmental health. WILPF has demonstrated in detail in its report Costs, risks, and myths of nuclear power why nuclear power does not present a solution to the climate crisis.
WILPF promotes a nuclear-free, carbon-free, and sustainable energy system instead of burying or correcting the consequences of nuclear and fossil energies through nuclear waste disposal and climate engineering.