The future of nuclear energy: The European Energy Policy

Thèmes abordés

Nuclear, energy, future, environment, investment, risk, safety, challenges, European Union

Résumé du document

It is hard to forecast with any certitude what the 21st century will hold for nuclear power. Still, the issues that will form its future are slightly clear. The goal of this paper is to study the possible role of nuclear energy in the formation of sustainable development in Europe, on the basis of a succinct inspection of the main driving forces involved.

Opinions regarding radioactive surplus, nuclear propagation, reactor accidents, trade and industry competitiveness, and public opinion continue to generate justified worries and thereby delay nuclear energy policy making, but the issues of energy supply safety, local air smog, and global environment change provide motive to reconsider its potential share in European power production. Whereas specific European nations (like Austria and Italy) currently have no plans to build nuclear power capacity, and others (such as Germany and Sweden) are publicly devoted to progressively increasing domestic nuclear energy supply, recent policy instructions in other states (Netherlands and the United Kingdom) show that nuclear energy is resurfacing on the political schedule, while some governments (Finland and France) definitively continue to preserve an important part for nuclear energy in their national electricity generation.

This paper briefly analyzes some of the key matters concerning the long-term forecasts for nuclear energy in Europe as well as the main relevant sustainability advices in this perspective. Europe, in this paper, refers in principle to all European nations, in the broad sense of the word, that were not part of the former Soviet Union excluding the three Baltic States. Therefore, not only members but also non-members of the current European Union are involved (Turkey). However, practically, this paper will focus on the probable future, at least until 2030, and most likely beyond. This growing energy consumption will be amongst the wide drivers for the forthcoming of nuclear power in Europe. Subsequently, the European population is likely to fall, with on average, a few part per thousands (ppt) per year until 2050, and the highest justification for the likely increase in energy use is the prospective growth of the European economy (expressed in GDP), typically by about 1.5% per year until 2050 in European Nations that are member of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and as high as 3.6% per year for countries with economies in transition

Extraits

[...] How far the related risks can be measured as acceptable is a matter of judgment that has to take into account the detailed risks of alternative energy sources. This judgment must be made logically on the heart of technical arguments, scientific conclusions, and open debate of evidence and in comparison with the hazards of other energy sources Risk and safety Our daily life includes dangers that are all related with certain risks. This is also true for energy generation. Since human beings are dependent on energy, one must estimate the hazards that are characteristic to diverse sources of energy in order to evaluate their merits. [...]

[...] Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power produces no CO2 during their operation. And even if one takes into account emissions related to fuel extraction and construction of facilities, the results for the CO2 production of various sectors of electricity generation is still very pro- nuclear. Nuclear power can help the fight against global warming, even if it was not initially developed for this reason. In France, the nuclear program has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 40% compared to what they have been with conventional thermal power, which is a reduction of 350 million tons of CO2 per year. [...]

[...] Stanford: Bombs, Reprocessing, and Reactor Grade Plutonium. Forum on Physics and Society of the American Physical Society, April 2006, Vol No http://units.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2006/april/article2.cfm. [...]

[...] To this date, no nation has yet applied a long-lasting solution for nuclear waste storage from the civil nuclear industry Proliferation and Extremists' threat The non-peaceful use of fissile material is a substance of utmost concern[4]. When deliberating this issue, we should differentiate the creation of nuclear missiles by the nuclear powers on the one hand and that of simple bombs by fanatics on the other hand. The opportunity for a given nation to develop a nuclear weapons program does not depend simply on the presence of nuclear power plants in that state but also on the availability of reprocessing and/or enrichment facilities. [...]

[...] Given that climatic, governmental, and practical doubts abound, adopting a hedging attitude today is cautious. Such an approach suggests that the energy spectrum is kept diverse and does not reject at this time any of the substitutes that could contribute to diminishing GHG releases, refining air quality, or ascertaining secure supplies of energy, under an increasing demand for electricity, globally and in Europe. The Global Prospects for Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century. International Journal of Global Energy Issues (IJGEI). http://www.ipcc.ch/ http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryfaqs/f/radioactivity.htm Gerald E. Marsh and George S. [...]