The science is clear: we need to stop burning fossil fuels and rapidly change how we create and supply energy to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
This series aims to give you the basics of the energy system. We will highlight examples of where it is—and isn’t—working, and how we must not repeat the fossil fuel industry’s past injustices.
Welcome to the second instalment of our Solutions Series: Nuclear power.
See the previous edition here: Solutions Series: Wind.
Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA
The Basics
Nuclear power is created by splitting uranium atoms, which releases heat and radiation. The heat boils water, producing steam, which drives a turbine and produces electricity.
Unlike burning fossil fuels, nuclear reactions do not produce carbon emissions. However, every other step in the process causes carbon emissions due to high energy demand – mining, processing, construction, decommissioning, and waste management.1
Like fossil fuels, uranium must be mined from the ground, and then processed to become usable. Both processes take energy and create radioactive waste, which is dumped in specialised sites. It takes around 1 million years for this waste to become safe.2
Nuclear reactions also produce dangerous radioactive waste that must be securely managed and stored for hundreds of thousands of years.3 There is currently no foolproof method of storing nuclear waste over this time frame.
Nuclear in the energy system
Around 9% of the world’s energy currently comes from nuclear power,4 and at 2023’s UN climate conference, over 20 countries announced a tripling of nuclear by 2050.5
Despite these commitments, nuclear energy is the slowest low-carbon energy to roll out. It takes around 10 years to build a nuclear power plant,6 compared to one to four years for major wind or solar projects.7
Nuclear power plants also require billions upfront to build. Advocates of nuclear energy often claim the energy produced over the lifetime of a nuclear station makes it comparable to renewables. But these calculations do not include the costs of storing waste for hundreds of thousands of years, or unexpected meltdowns.8
Things can go seriously wrong
Nuclear energy is not a safe option to transition away from fossil fuels. The reaction that creates the energy must be heavily controlled – otherwise, a nuclear meltdown can happen.
On 11 March, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. This triggered a nuclear disaster at a power plant in Fukushima. Half of the reactors had meltdowns, releasing radioactive material into the environment.
The cost of the damage at Fukushima has been astronomical, and the loss of livelihoods unthinkable. US$7 billion has been spent every year since 2011, and the cleanup efforts are ongoing today.9,10
Justice and nuclear
Historically, low-income, minority and Indigenous communities are targeted as sites for waste disposal, including nuclear.11 This leaves communities with a legacy of health concerns, including birth defects and cancers.12
If not properly managed, wind can blow radioactive dust from uranium mining and waste, contaminating water and land.13
New nuclear is a dangerous distraction in the race to solve climate change. It takes too long to build, is too expensive, and is dangerous – especially when compared to renewables.
We cannot justify a “solution” to the climate crisis if it creates more problems for future generations. We must not transition from one broken system to another.
Looking for more? Check out our responses to the announcement to triple nuclear energy at the 2023 UN climate conference, COP28.
Sources:
1. CO2 emissions of nuclear power: the whole picture – Wise International, 2020
2, 3. The Global Crisis of Nuclear Waste – Greenpeace, 2018
4. Statistical Review of World Energy – Energy Institute, 2023
5. Nuclear Energy Makes History as Final COP28 Agreement Calls for Faster Deployment – International Atomic Energy Agency
6. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2021 – Mycle Schneider, 2021
7. Renewable projects are getting built faster – but there’s even more need for speed – Australian National University, February 2024
8. 7 reasons why nuclear energy is not the answer to solve climate change – One Earth, April 2024
9. Fukushima cleanup costs swell with no end in sight – Nikkei Asia, March 2023
10. Further reading: 350.org Japan Campaigner Masayoshi Iyoda – “Nuclear energy cannot lead the global energy transition” – Al Jazeera, April 2024
11. Nuclear waste ravaged their land. The Yakama Nation is on a quest to rescue it – The Guardian, 2022
12. Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health – BMJ Paediatrics Open, 2022
13. Radioactive Waste From Uranium Mining and Milling – EPA, 2024
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