Nuclear power debate

This article is about the primary issues upon which people differ in their assessments as to the value, role and relative safety of nuclear power. For nuclear energy policies by nation, see Nuclear energy policy. For public protests about nuclear power, see Anti-nuclear movement. For public support for nuclear energy, see Pro-nuclear movement.

The nuclear power debate is a long-running controversy[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] about the risks and benefits of using nuclear reactors to generate electricity for civilian purposes. The debate about nuclear power peaked during the 1970s and 1980s, as more and more reactors were built and came online, and "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies" in some countries.[8][9] In the 2010s, with growing public awareness about climate change and the critical role that carbon dioxide and methane emissions plays in causing the heating of the Earth's atmosphere, there was a resurgence in the intensity of the nuclear power debate.

Proponents of nuclear energy argue that nuclear power is the only consistently reliable clean and sustainable energy source which provides large amounts of uninterrupted energy without polluting the atmosphere or emitting the carbon emissions that cause global warming. They argue that use of nuclear power provides well-paying jobs, energy security, reduces a dependence on imported fuels and exposure to price risks associated with resource speculation and foreign policy.[10] Nuclear power produces virtually no air pollution,[11] providing significant environmental benefits compared to the sizeable amount of pollution and carbon emission generated from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.[12] Some proponents also believe that nuclear power is the only viable course for a country to achieve energy independence while also meeting their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement. They emphasize that the risks of storing waste are small and existing stockpiles can be reduced by using this waste to produce fuels for the latest technology in newer reactors. The operational safety record of nuclear power is far better than the other major kinds of power plants[13] and, by preventing pollution, it saves lives.[14][15]

Opponents say that nuclear power poses numerous threats to people and the environment and point to studies that question if it will ever be a sustainable energy source. There are health risks,[16] accidents, and environmental damage[17] associated with uranium mining, processing and transport. They highlight the high cost and delays in the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants, and the fears associated with nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear power opponents fear sabotage by terrorists of nuclear plants, diversion and misuse of radioactive fuels or fuel waste, as well as naturally-occurring leakage from the unsolved and imperfect long-term storage process of radioactive nuclear waste.[18][19][20] They also contend that reactors themselves are enormously complex machines where many things can and do go wrong, and there have been many serious nuclear accidents,[21][22] although when compared to other sources of power, nuclear power is (along with solar and wind energy) among the safest.[23][24][25][26] Critics do not believe that these risks can be reduced through new technology.[27] They further argue that when all the energy-intensive stages of the nuclear fuel chain are considered, from uranium mining to nuclear decommissioning, nuclear power is not a low-carbon electricity source.[28][29][30]

  1. ^ "Sunday Dialogue: Nuclear Energy, Pro and Con". The New York Times. 25 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016.
  2. ^ MacKenzie, James J. (December 1977). "The Nuclear Power Controversy by Arthur W. Murphy". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 52 (4): 467–8. doi:10.1086/410301. JSTOR 2823429.
  3. ^ Walker, J. Samuel (2006). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective. University of California Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0520246836.
  4. ^ In February 2010 the nuclear power debate played out on the pages of the New York Times, see A Reasonable Bet on Nuclear Power Archived 1 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine and Revisiting Nuclear Power: A Debate Archived 9 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine and A Comeback for Nuclear Power? Archived 26 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ In July 2010 the nuclear power debate again played out on the pages of the New York Times, see We're Not Ready Archived 24 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Nuclear Energy: The Safety Issues Archived 24 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Diaz-Maurin, François (2014). "Going beyond the Nuclear Controversy". Environmental Science & Technology. 48 (1): 25–26. Bibcode:2014EnST...48...25D. doi:10.1021/es405282z. PMID 24364822.
  7. ^ Diaz-Maurin, François; Kovacic, Zora (2015). "The unresolved controversy over nuclear power: A new approach from complexity theory". Global Environmental Change. 31 (C): 207–216. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.01.014.
  8. ^ Kitschelt, Herbert P. (2009). "Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies". British Journal of Political Science. 16: 57. doi:10.1017/S000712340000380X. S2CID 154479502.
  9. ^ Jim Falk (1982). Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power, Oxford University Press, pp. 323–340.
  10. ^ "Bloomberg Politics". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009.
  11. ^ "Nuclear Power and the Environment – Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy – Energy Information Administration". eia.gov. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  12. ^ Adamantiades, A.; Kessides, I. (2009). "Nuclear power for sustainable development: Current status and future prospects". Energy Policy. 37 (12): 5149–5166. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.07.052. ISSN 0301-4215.
  13. ^ Bernard Cohen. "The Nuclear Energy Option". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  14. ^ Markandya, Anil; Wilkinson, Paul (2007). "Electricity generation and health". The Lancet. 370 (9591): 979–990. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61253-7. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 17876910.
  15. ^ "Nuclear power saves lives". Nature. 497 (7451): 539. 2013. doi:10.1038/497539e. ISSN 0028-0836.
  16. ^ Brugge, Doug; Buchner, Virginia (1 January 2011). "Health effects of uranium: new research findings". Reviews on Environmental Health. 26 (4). doi:10.1515/reveh.2011.032. ISSN 2191-0308. PMID 22435323.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schneider2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Nuclear Energy is not a New Clear Resource". Theworldreporter.com. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013.
  19. ^ Greenpeace International and European Renewable Energy Council (January 2007). Energy Revolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook Archived 6 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, p. 7.
  20. ^ Giugni, Marco (2004). Social protest and policy change: ecology, antinuclear, and peace movements in comparative perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-0742518278.
  21. ^ Stephanie Cooke (2009). In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age, Black Inc., p. 280.
  22. ^ Sovacool, Benjamin K. (2008). "The costs of failure: A preliminary assessment of major energy accidents, 1907–2007". Energy Policy. 36 (5): 1802. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2008.01.040.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Copeland2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference OWODSafety was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hacquin2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Jim Green . Nuclear Weapons and 'Fourth Generation' Reactors Archived 5 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine Chain Reaction, August 2009, pp. 18–21.
  28. ^ Kleiner, Kurt (2008). "Nuclear energy: Assessing the emissions". Nature Reports Climate Change. 1 (810): 130. doi:10.1038/climate.2008.99.
  29. ^ Mark Diesendorf (2007). Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, University of New South Wales Press, p. 252.
  30. ^ Mark Diesendorf (July 2007). "Is nuclear energy a possible solution to global warming?" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2014.