Nuclear power presents a complex dilemma in the global effort to combat climate change. While nuclear energy has been celebrated since the 1950s for its potential to deliver a "fossil fuel-free world," its reputation has been continually shadowed by the risk of atomic bomb tests and catastrophic disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima. As the window of time to mitigate the climate crisis shrinks, nuclear power's allure has come full circle, but its risks remain considerable.
The Case for Nuclear Power
Nuclear energy is highly attractive to decarbonization efforts for two main reasons:
Zero-Carbon Emissions: Once operational, nuclear power stations emit no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, offering a non-fossil energy source that can significantly reduce global emissions.
Reliable Base Load Power: Unlike renewable sources like wind and solar, whose output can vary, nuclear energy generates a constant, reliable power supply. This is crucial for providing base load power—the guaranteed, 24/7 electricity needed to ensure the lights stay on, regardless of weather conditions. For over 60 years, nuclear has provided this stable foundation for the grid.
A notable unintended consequence of rapidly abandoning nuclear power was demonstrated after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdown. Both Japan and Germany decided to drastically reduce their nuclear output. As a result, both countries increased their reliance on coal and gas, leading to a direct yet unintended increase in fossil fuel use. Research found that this decision cost the two nations the opportunity to prevent over 28,000 air pollution-induced premature deaths caused by the increased use of fossil fuels.
The Enduring Nuclear Challenge
Despite its benefits, the inherent dangers and costs of nuclear energy make it a highly controversial energy source:
Risk of Accidents and Climate Vulnerability: Accidents, though rare, can be catastrophic, as seen at Fukushima, which was triggered by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. Furthermore, nearly all existing nuclear waste is stored at coastal sites, making them highly vulnerable to the worst impacts of climate change, such as storm surges and sea level rise.
High Cost and Time: Constructing modern, highly-designed nuclear reactors—built to withstand earthquakes and other threats—is incredibly expensive and time-consuming. For instance, the UK's Hinkley Point C reactor is projected to cost at least twice as much as the 2012 London Olympics, and that figure continues to rise.
Radioactive Waste: The biggest challenge is the radioactive waste generated by reactors. While 96% of the volume is low-level waste, a small fraction (less than 1%) is high-level waste (HLW). The radiation from HLW is so intense that touching it would deliver a dose a million times higher than one receives from natural sources in an entire year. This waste remains dangerous for thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of years.
The Disposal Dilemma
The ideal, long-term solution for HLW is a geological disposal facility (GDF), where waste is isolated from future populations by being buried 200 to 1,000 meters beneath the Earth's surface forever. However, finding a suitable site has proven extremely difficult because of public opposition to living near radioactive waste. As of today, Finland is the only country in the world actively building a permanent underground GDF.
The dilemma, critics argue, is that while GDFs are necessary to manage the existing, massive amounts of nuclear waste, the continued construction of new reactors piles on unknown quantities of waste for the far future.
In conclusion, as energy demands continue to grow and the need to decarbonize rapidly becomes paramount, nuclear power is difficult to ignore. It offers reliable, carbon-free base load power, but at the cost of high construction expenses and the legacy of dangerous, long-lived radioactive waste that humanity has not yet secured a global, permanent solution for.
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