Nuclear power: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

A nuclear power plant

Black-and-white photo of Calder Hall nuclear power station in Cumbria, UK, showing two large cooling towers, industrial buildings, and tall smokestacks.

Four large concrete cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station emit steam behind trees and a river, with power lines crossing overhead in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.

Aerial view of Three Mile Island nuclear power station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with four cooling towers; damaged reactor number two is in the foreground. Steam rises from one tower.

View of the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

Panoramic view of abandoned buildings and overgrown trees in Pripyat, seen from the Polissya Hotel, with smoke rising in the distance under a cloudy sky.

Side-by-side maps showing the nuclear exclusion zones around Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan. The Chernobyl map displays the original circular 30-kilometer exclusion zone and the present-day irregular exclusion area spanning parts of Ukraine and Belarus. The Fukushima map shows the initial 20-kilometer exclusion circle and current zones with varying restrictions, including difficult-to-return and restricted residence areas, extending inland from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power pl

People are screened for radiation exposure in Koriyama city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

No. 4 unit of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Chernobyl disaster

Tourists take a guided tour of the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

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