Finance

Nuclear Plants Face More Heat Risk Than They’re Prepared to Handle

A new report from Moody’s shows that a warming world may cause more service disruptions in the U.S.

Cooling towers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.Photographer: Andrew Harrer
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Climate change—particularly intense heat—is advancing so rapidly that it poses physical as well as credit risks to America’s aging nuclear fleet, a new report from Moody’s Investors Service finds.

“Our plants are fairly hardened to severe weather,” said David Kamran, a projects and infrastructure analyst at Moody’s and the lead author of the report. “But climate change is moving quickly.”