Will warming temperatures make nuclear power unfeasible?

The shutdown of a Browns Ferry reactor last week because of high Tennessee River temperatures was international news.

In the mainstream press from Britain to Germany to Malaysia, on National Public Radio, and in anti-nuclear blogs worldwide, people who could not find Alabama on a map became experts on Browns Ferry.

The interest stems from a raging environmental debate that deemed last week’s shutdown of Unit 2, and the power reductions in Units 1 and 3, as relevant to the viability of nuclear power.

Nuclear power has created a schism among environmentalists.

On the one hand, the world has yet to find a satisfactory solution for disposing of nuclear waste, and the risk of a catastrophic failure is alarming.

On the other hand, an operating nuclear plant creates essentially none of the greenhouse gases that most experts believe are contributing to climate change.

The shutdown dropped Browns Ferry into the middle of the debate. What use is nuclear power if plants become inoperable as global temperatures rise?

“I think both sides of the issue tend to overstate their case,” said Dave Lochbaum, director of nuclear safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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