Check Your References

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report is a regular publication from France which collects various data on nuclear and renewable energy and presents it 1) with an overwhelming anti-nuclear slant, and 2) without peer review. Make absolutely no mistake, WNISR is bona fide anti-nuclear literature, as Australia’s foremost anti-nuclear spokesman attests.

“World Nuclear Industry Status Report”. Sounds so prosaic, doesn’t it? What if there was a “World Vaccine Industry Status Report”, in the same vein, authored by anti-vaccination campaigners, sponsored by organisations which have opposed vaccination for decades? That sure wouldn’t seem so laudably independent.

There’s much to be said for considering, and not dismissing, the body of relevant expertise, especially with regards to contentious issues or the claims of outspoken activists. To whit, we now have the World Nuclear Association’s Performance Report, containing a wealth of clearly presented information and without disparaging any of the alternative low carbon energy sources to which that organisation has committed its support.

Renewables, nuclear and a greatly reduced level of fossil fuel work together in harmony to ensure a reliable, affordable and clean energy supply.

Further authoritative information can be sourced from:

NucNet (including an excellent, definitive fact file on Chernobyl)
Nuclear Energy Institute
American Nuclear Society
The Health Physics Society
Nuclear Industry Association UK
Japan Atomic Industrial Forum
Ansto

And general energy statistics are available at
BP
IEA

There’s a distinct difference between today’s growing, genuine interest in the benefits and challenges of nuclear energy, and last century’s stale obsession with making sure it looks bad at every opportunity. One of these is healthy, and one is not.