With governments around the world recognizing the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear energy looks like being an increasingly major player in the energy mix of the coming ...

ABC Science's Bernie Hobbs explains the basics of how nuclear reactors work and why they they occasionally blow up or melt down.

Nuclear meltdowns occur when the fuel rods overheat, leaving a molten mass of fuel and fission products at the bottom of the reactor vessel — the casing that contains the fuel rods and coolant.

Do you know how nuclear energy is created? Learn about the steps involved in generating electricity from uranium atoms in this interactive graphic.

Several of Japan's nuclear power plants, especially the Fukushima Naiishi plant in northeastern Japan, are experiencing serious problems in the wake of Friday's earthquake and tsunami. If you've ...

Modern reactors are extremely safe - the UN says nuclear power plants are some of the "safest and most secure" facilities in the world.

Nuclear reactors undergo a surprisingly simple process to generate power. In fact, it's quite similar to the process for coal-driven plants: Water is heated to make steam, and the steam drives a ...

Nuclear power is currently the only zero-carbon source of mass power. How does it work?

The inner workings, and dangers, of nuclear reactors, including how meltdowns occur and what happened in Japan.

HOW DO NUCLEAR REACTORS WORK? A nuclear reactor creates energy by splitting atoms of uranium. The energy released from these atoms is then used to boil water. This, in turn, drives a turbine.