The push for more nuclear energy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spiked uranium prices, leading mines for the element to begin operating again in the U.S. despite long-term environmental and health impacts.
The world’s two worst nuclear accidents, in Ukraine and Japan, along with the human exclusion zones around them, are informing scientists about radiation effects, and how ecosystems evolve with less pressure from people.
The Diablo Canyon reactors were scheduled to shutter in 2025, but California reversed course last year and is now considering running the plant until at least the end of the decade.
In the face of regional and domestic objections, the country plans to proceed with a discharge at Fukushima that will eventually reach more than a million tons of water.
