Low-carbon energy sources are a vital weapon in the world’s fight against rising temperatures, Wind, hydro, solar and other emerging technologies all have a part to play in realising the crossover from fossil fuels and carbon-based energy sources. However, one energy source which is often left out of the discourse is nuclear power.
Importance of Nuclear Power
Nuclear and hydro power have a big role to play in facilitating the switch from non-renewable energy sources. Both can produce power ‘constantly’ unlike other renewables like solar and wind power. Nuclear and hydro energy can also be deployed on a large scale relatively quickly and efficiently.
However, nuclear power has the added advantage of not being restricted to geographical constraints, unlike hydroelectricity. Using low-carbon sources of energy reduces the total amount of carbon emissions in the world drastically.
Nuclear power remains one of the cheapest energy sources with very low carbon emission.
Nuclear Reluctance
Currently, nuclear power contributes to 10 percent of global power generation every year. It is the second-highest source of low-carbon energy, producing power in 50 countries around the world.
While many countries have pledged to reduce fossil fuel-based energy supply, countries have also committed to reducing reliance on nuclear energy.
France, with 58 reactors, produces 71 percent of its energy needs through nuclear power. But the country had also enacted a policy to reduce the share of nuclear energy production in the country to just 50 percent by 2025. While the timeline has been extended to 2035, there are no plans to change the underlying policy.
In neighbouring Germany, however, nuclear power is slated to be completely phased out by 2022. Most of the replacements have come in the form of high-carbon energy sources.
While other countries like India, South Africa and Korea have committed to building more reactors and increasing production, there is no hard policy to shift towards nuclear power on a larger scale.
Countries often face public and political opposition to building nuclear reactors. This is on top of technological and financial constraints that many countries face.
Dark Side of N-Power
In 2010, many experts believed that there would be renewed interest in nuclear energy as the world tried to shift from fossil fuels. But after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, there was a rise in public opinion against nuclear power.
Many countries, like France and Germany, announced a change in their energy policies to either reduce or completely phase out nuclear power within their borders.
Fear of nuclear accidents, association with nuclear weapons, risk of terrorist attacks at nuclear power plants, proliferation of nuclear waste, waste disposal of nuclear material and the economics of a nuclear fuel-based economy are often brought up in the case against nuclear power.
Newer, Safer
However, the development in nuclear fission technology has made much of the criticism obsolete. Increased safety, improved waste disposal, a fraction of waste generated in comparison to fossil fuels, and other factors have improved rapidly.
While the safer nuclear fusion-based power remains out of reach, increased interest in nuclear power may lead to breakthroughs in technology that can essentially provide limitless, cheap and clean energy.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
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