Nuclear change for climate
The Kyoto Protocol of 1997, aimed at cutting carbon emissions to mitigate climate change, has been used to push nuclear energy for more than two years. The idea is to get legitimacy for nuclear as it doesn't increase carbon emissions. The central problem with atomic power - nobody knows how to handle the millions of tonnes of waste it produces, which remains radioactive for thousands of years - gets short shrift. And then there are the issues of nuclear accidents and the high costs of building and operating nuclear plants.
Two international consortiums have already come out with nuclear plant designs that they claim are smaller and safer. One of these, called pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR, developed by an international consortium of South African, US, Russian, Japanese and French firms), has generated considerable interest. The developers claim that a PBMR nuclear plant would cost about twice as much as a gas-powered plant, but the generation cost would be the same. They say the design is very safe and that the reactor would shut down before reaching the stage of a meltdown. However, critics argue that the PBMR design is cost effective only because it compromises safety.
The US and Japanese energy policy puts a lot of stress on nuclear. For the first time since the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, the US administration has given positive signals to those interested in building nuclear plants. The energy ministers of the G8 group of industrialised countries met in Detroit in the first week of May 2002. "Most G8 members stress the value of nuclear energy," they declared. Energy security figured prominently in the discussions. On May 24, 2002, the Finnish parliament authorised the construction of a new nuclear reactor. Finland imports more than 70 per cent of its energy supplies, mainly from Russia. Analysts say the new plant is an effort to achieve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Party, part of the ruling coalition in Finland, walked out of the government in protest. Germany is the only exception with its plans for decommissioning nuclear plants on track.
Related Content
- Long-term energy scenarios and low-emission development strategies: stocktaking and alignment
- Climate change and nuclear power 2022: securing clean energy for climate resilience
- Melting mountains, mounting tensions: climate change and the India-China rivalry
- BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019
- New energy solutions for 1.5°C: pathways and technologies to achieve the Paris Agreement
- Renewable power: climate-safe energy competes on cost alone