The virtual seminar will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (E.T.)
Advocates for nuclear power promote the development of non-light-water nuclear reactors, which differ fundamentally from current reactors, as a means to save an industry facing an uncertain future and to help mitigate climate change. This talk will ask if the new reactors on offer are demonstrably safer, more secure, and more economical than existing reactors. It will argue the answer is “no” for most of the non-light-water reactor designs with regard to safety and security, sustainability, and the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. This talk draws on the 2021 Union of Concerned Scientists study "Advanced" Isn't Always Better” - Assessing the Safety, Security, and Environmental Impacts of Non-Light-Water Nuclear Reactors".
About the speaker: Edwin Lyman is a physicist and Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, DC. He was previously a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton's Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (the predecessor to the Program on Science and Global Security) and worked for the Nuclear Control Institute. He is a co-author (with David Lochbaum and Susan Stranahan) of Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster (The New Press, 2014). He currently serves on a National Academy of Sciences committee evaluating the merits and viability of advanced reactor fuel cycles.