Idea Factory
Can we do without nuclear energy? Nuclear energy produces no CO2 during electricity generation and could boost global power supplies without some of the environmental consequences of alternative technologies. However, there are worries about other aspects of the nuclear solution, including waste disposal, safety and non-civilian nuclear programmes. www.oecd-nea.org
“Recent analyses fail to come up with any 50-year scenario based on sustainable development principles which does not depend significantly on nuclear fission to provide large-scale, highly intensive energy, along with renewables, to meet some small-scale (and especially dispersed) low-intensity needs. The alternative is either to squander fossil carbon resources or deny the aspirations of hundreds of millions of people in the next generation.”
World Nuclear Association,“Sustainable Energy”, 2011 www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf09.html
“On every measure (climate change, mining impact, local pollution, industrial injury and death, even radioactive discharges) coal is 100 times worse than nuclear power. Thanks to the expansion of shale gas production, the impacts of natural gas are catching up fast ... Yes, I would prefer to see the entire [nuclear] sector shut down, if there were harmless alternatives. But there are no ideal solutions.” George Monbiot, “Why Fukushima Made Me Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power” Guardian, 21 March 2011 www.guardian.co.uk
“Despite what the nuclear industry tells us, building enough nuclear power stations to make a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would cost trillions of dollars, create tens of thousands of tons of lethal high-level radioactive waste, contribute to further proliferation of nuclear weapons materials, and result in a Chernobyl-scale accident once every decade. Perhaps most significantly, it will squander the resources necessary to implement meaningful climate change solutions.” Greenpeace, “End the Nuclear Age” www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/nuclear
“No later than the end of 2022, the last German nuclear power station is to be shut down … [Germany] can become a pioneer and an example for the rest of the world, demonstrating how a sustainable shift to renewables can be managed while remaining economically successful. This way forward into a future that will not leave any further negative ecological legacy, and that does not involve any dependence on expensive imported energy, opens up excellent new prospects for Germany, in terms of exports, jobs and growth.” German government, “Safe, Affordable and Environmentally-friendly”, 6 June 2011
© Mirec, 2011. Used under licence from Shutterstock.com
www.bundesregierung.de
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