Climate security

Nuclear renaissance continues despite Fukushima

Although nuclear energy is carbon-free, global communities are reluctant to utilise this alternative power source due to concern about radioactive contamination.

The industry hit a new low in March 2011 after a tsunami struck a nuclear power plant in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima, which led to a number of nuclear meltdowns, explosions and radioactive seepage. This incident rekindled fears inspired by earlier high-profile nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986.

Shortly after the events that unfolded in Japan, the German government decided to redirect attention and support towards renewable energy.

But as China and India race to expand their nuclear capacity and build new reactors, and with climate change a growing concern, the World Nuclear Association said in a 2015 report that there are "signals [of] a revival in support for nuclear power in the West".