DAVID HESS | OPINION


For the nuclear sector the defining moments are not highlights –


they are lowlights. If you prompt people to think beyond nuclear weapons then probably the first word to pass their lips will be Chornobyl – a sinister accident of mythic proportion that took place in 1986.


guilty for the Chornobyl nuclear accident, but that all companies had a responsibility to improve their operations as a result of it, and some more than others. This happened. It is done. There is a sentiment within some parts of the


nuclear community, reinforced by the global safety bodies, that we should “never forget” the Chornobyl accident. But what is the point of actively remembering it? This distinction is subtle but important. Much the same as recovering from any trauma, we can recognise the event occurred but without distress, and without basing our entire narrative and future around it. Forty years on from the accident this memory should


be pragmatic and logical, not emotionally-charged and guilt-ridden. Self-reflection should also embrace the fact that the use of nuclear energy is overwhelmingly safe and has saved millions of lives when compared to alternatives – a conclusion that has now been reached by multiple studies. Yes, nuclear accidents can happen even with high standards and care, but it does not change this fundamental fact. And as for society at large, given that the global median age is 31, most of the people alive today were not born when the Chornobyl nuclear accident took place. It is not something they lived through but rather have only ever experienced in books, feature articles and TV mini-series. For a person born today the accident is about as relevant as the Hindenburg disaster to someone born in 1986. The annual media circus on the anniversary of the


Chornobyl accident has begun to feel like predictable content – readily available click-bait that can be scheduled well in advance by editors. And while this is to be expected, it is fair to say that the coverage today does not seem anywhere near as hyperbole- filled as years-past. Even newspapers that are typically viscerally opposed to nuclear energy now routinely carries stories about wildlife thriving in the exclusion zone despite, or maybe even because of, the radiological contamination. One wonders just how long the fixation on the


anniversary will last. A decade from now will we still see features and headlines commemorating the fiftieth anniversary? Actually, this does seem likely. But what about 10 years after that, and the same again? Precisely how long does an event like this get to live in our collective memory?


Leading nuclear bodies play their role reminding people


and effectively immortalising the accident. For instance, both WNA and IAEA created new digital media to mark the 40th anniversary which were hard to miss if you visited their websites. In the IAEA’s case, a video of Director General Grossi, passionately explaining that he does not consider the event to be history, but rather a “living responsibility”. While the IAEA does maintain activities at the Chornobyl plant, this is still a backwards-looking message for an industry that should be looking forward. In the year 2026, faced now with an energy landscape


characterised by surging AI-driven energy demand and a suite of social, environmental and economic challenges crying out for solutions – the global nuclear industry deserves a narrative based around hope and achievement rather than its accidents. There are other equally impactful but more positive occasions in the industry’s history which are worth commemorating. For instance, in 2020 a group of activists pushed for 2


December to be recognised as World Nuclear Day. This date marks the start of Chicago pile 1, the world’s first nuclear reactor and the herald of many clean gigawatts to come. Everyone in the industry should have it marked in their calendars, and companies might want to consider contributing more resources to it. Rather than breaking global nuclear history into


pre-1979, 1979 to 1986, 1986 to 2011and after, perhaps we should celebrate the advent of new technologies and the subsequent waves of nuclear development and regional progress? For example, the first Chinese nuclear power plant


began operating on 15 December 1991. This event surely marks a turning point in global nuclear prospects. The title of first modern SMR surely belongs to the Russian floating nuclear power plant – Akademik Lomonosov – which connected to the grid on 19 December 2019. These occasions better define the spirit and true potential of nuclear energy than its worse moments. They deserve more attention. In essence the nuclear sector today should be looking forward and not back. While we may not be able to control the narrative that others apply to us, we can change the way we think about and start talking about ourselves. Moving on means internalising, learning lessons and ultimately growing from our darkest moments, rather than continuously defining ourselves by them. ■


Activists have pushed for 2 December to be recognised as World Nuclear Day. This date marks the start of Chicago pile 1, the world’s first nuclear


reactor and the herald of many clean gigawatts to come. Everyone in the industry should have it marked in their calendars.


www.neimagazine.com | May 2026 | 15


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