Here's a living document with questions and answers from our nuclear communications team. Check back for updates as the situation continues to develop. Last update: 25 March 2011

All commercial nuclear reactors of the present generation are based on designs originally developed for military plutonium production or for the propulsion of nuclear submarines or other navy vessels. Although there are different ways of...

Radiation is the term used to describe energy in the form of light or particles. Whereas most atoms in nature are stable and remain unchanged in composition and energy, certain natural or artificially created atoms are unstable, which means they...

Discover what exactly caused the catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl plant, how the clean up was conducted at huge human cost, and the current state of the site.

Plutonium was discovered in the US in 1941 when scientists exposed uranium to neutron radiation in a laboratory. There is nothing natural about it, and has only been in the environment since the first atomic bomb was detonated in the US in 1945...

The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to keep track of all kinds of radioactive materials as they move around the globe. However as the world's nuclear reactors continue to produce waste, and the nuclear five nations persist in having a...

Every uranium-fuelled nuclear reactor creates plutonium during routine operation. Every 12-18 months the reactor is shut down, and one quarter of the fuel is discharged, and fresh fuel loaded. The so-called spent fuel consists of plutonium...

There's no environmentally acceptable way to "dispose" of nuclear waste, no matter what kind of waste it is. Dumping radioactive waste in remote areas just keeps the problem out of sight, out of mind, and lets the nuclear industry make even more...

The nuclear industry is dependent upon the transportation of nuclear components and materials (uranium, fresh fuel, nuclear spent fuel and plutonium). Radioactive materials are carried by sea, rail, road and air. So even if you do not live near a...