WPSR Consensus Statement on the Role of
Nuclear Energy for Electricity Generation

Adopted April 12, 2023
Bruce Amundson, MD, President, WPSR
Mark Vossler, MD, Chair, Research Committee

WPSR’s mission—to address the gravest threats to human health—includes the abolition of nuclear weapons and advancing solutions to the climate crisis. While we are driven to consider and support all viable means to solve the critical threat posed by our warming climate, we also have a steadfast commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons globally and the remediation of the severe health consequences from nuclear weapons development, testing, and use in war. Nuclear power presents an opportunity to provide much-needed carbon-free energy at a time of growing global demand, but also presents major concerns for those who—like WPSR—are deeply concerned about the dangers of all nuclear technologies, weapons and otherwise. In this position paper, we address the potential costs, benefits, and health risks of using nuclear power to mitigate and reverse anthropogenic climate change.  

After careful review of the medical and scientific literature, and consideration of the human health impacts of societal energy choices, we conclude that improved energy efficiency and renewable energy sources (hydropower, wind, geothermal and solar) are vastly preferred to all other forms of energy. This includes nuclear energy which may need to play a role in providing sufficient zero-carbon energy, given the scale of the climate crisis, and the urgency of satisfying the growing global energy demand. Significant issues with nuclear safety, equity, and economics will need to be resolved if we are to move from a position of caution to endorsement. We outline the steps we took to arrive at these conclusions below.

Our focus in this document is on civilian uses of nuclear energy not military uses of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.