Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change, Brice Smith, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. The large number of reactors required for nuclear power to play any meaningful role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions greatly complicates the efforts required to deal with its unique vulnerabilities including the potential for the nuclear fuel cycle to enable nuclear weapons proliferation, the risks from catastrophicreactor accidents, and the difficulties of managing long-lived and highly radiotoxic nuclear waste.