The debate about the pros and cons of nuclear energy dates back to the 60's/70's, when the first programmes for the launch of civil nuclear energy plants were launched in the developped world ( mostly Europe, The US but also in the USSR ).
The establishment of nuclear plants resulted in fierce debates amonst public opinion and politicians and major demonstrations in the world lead by the one opposed to the development of this type of energy. One could even say that these were at the origin of the development of the first "ecologist" and "green" contestation movements in Europe. Peace movements and also extreme leftist groups had also the nuclear as a common enemy, reflecting the interests of global capitalism.
Today the picture has evolved and many in the public have changed their mind with the new developments regarding on the one hand the concerns regarding the end to come of major fossile energy reserves ( oil and gas) and on the other hand the challenges of climate change due to the global warming.
Dear blog reader let us have a quick cartesian review of the matter to help us make our mind on a complex issue for which there is no simple answer.
Let us take as real life example: the case of France.
Did you know that our beloved hexagon is the 2nd world producer of nuclear energy ?
How comes ?
The establishment of nuclear plants resulted in fierce debates amonst public opinion and politicians and major demonstrations in the world lead by the one opposed to the development of this type of energy. One could even say that these were at the origin of the development of the first "ecologist" and "green" contestation movements in Europe. Peace movements and also extreme leftist groups had also the nuclear as a common enemy, reflecting the interests of global capitalism.
Today the picture has evolved and many in the public have changed their mind with the new developments regarding on the one hand the concerns regarding the end to come of major fossile energy reserves ( oil and gas) and on the other hand the challenges of climate change due to the global warming.
Dear blog reader let us have a quick cartesian review of the matter to help us make our mind on a complex issue for which there is no simple answer.
Let us take as real life example: the case of France.
Did you know that our beloved hexagon is the 2nd world producer of nuclear energy ?
How comes ?
The facts are as follows: In the 70 's nuclear energy was covering 2% of our energy requirements and oil approximately 78 %.
Today nuclear energy covers 41 % of our requirements, oil 33% and gas 15 %, the rest being covered by hydroenergy and other renewable energies ( by the way France is also the first producer of renewable energy in Europe with wood counting for 55%, hydroenergy counting for 29 %, biofuels, 4% and solar + wind sadly representing only a bare 1% of total renewable energies). When came the first energy crisis in the 70's with the first time major increase of oil, the government decided to launch a major program of building of nuclear plants and the result is that today we have 58 nuclear plants scattered every where on our territory ( look at the map and try to find a place where to live if you are allergic to the vicinity of nuclear plants... you will not find it easy...).
From an economic and strategic point of view the political decision makers realized that France being one of the world major economy, (currently being the 7th bigger consumer of energy in the world) owns very limited fossile energy reserves. In fact, it is considered that France would own only 0.01% of fossile energy reserves of the world with little coal production left ( production decreased from 40 million metric tons per year in the 70's to less than 3 million metric tons in the years 2000), and very limited and decreasing gas reserves ( national gas production decreased from 15% of need in the 70's to less than 2% today). To ensure the energetic independance of the nation, the choice of nuclear energey appeared as THE solution and in fact today, thanks to this choice our country is independant for over 50% of its energy requirements and even generates major revenues from sale of electricity to european neighbours. The production of nuclear energy may also help the country meet the internationally agreed goals of 4 times reduction of CO2 gas emissions by 2050 and thus contribute significantly to reduction of global warming. Finally France has gained over the past almost 40 years a considerable "know how" in terms of nuclear technology and is now in a position to export it to many countries in the world that have indicated their interest to equip themselves with this new technology.
Let us review briefly the pros and cons of Nuclear energy:
The " pros"
- Energetic independance
- Technology of the future
- Alternative to decreasing world fossile resources
- Very limited impact on global warming
- Good source of export revenues
The "cons"
- Sophisticated Technology with major environmental risks and impact on human health ( remember Chernobyl) for a very long period of time.
- Problems of storage of residues
The next question may be: Do we have the choice or alternatives ?
The answer could be: yes we should definitely invest more in the research and development of other sources of energy; for the short term there is a lot of potential in developping more the use of non renewable energies such as the solar, the wind, the waves, the biofuels; for the long term to invest massively in the research on nuclear fusion ( the problem of energy would be resolved for ever... we can always dream...). We should also invest more on new modes of energy saving.
BUT for the very short term let us be realistic, we may not have other choice than to continue to rely on nuclear civil energy, particularly with current patterns of consumption and economic development. Should we decide to review the way our society is consuming,.... then it is another story..
We realize that this approach may not be very popular and we are looking forward to receive your views on the matter !
No comments:
Post a Comment