atw International Journal for Nuclear Power | 04.2020

atw Vol. 65 (2020) | Issue 4 ı April
238
NUCLEAR TODAY
John Shepherd is a
freelance journalist
and communications
consultant.
Sources:
Franz Timmermans
interview
https://bit.ly/39APlV0
NEA Nuclear Energy
Date 2019
https://bit.ly/38xxLjt
Barakah-1
announcement
https://bit.ly/2IvGatm
Cards Still Stacked Against Nuclear
in Green Investment Deal
John Shepherd
The launch a few weeks ago of proposals for a European Climate Law should have been a clarion call towards ushering
in a cleaner, greener future – but instead of a fanfare for change. I heard only another requiem for common sense.
I had initially listened with anticipation as Frans
Timmermans, the European Commission’s executive
vice-president, opened a ‘high-level public conference’ on
the European Union’s so-called Green Deal investment
plan and the proposals for the new climate law.
The background to the conference was the Commission’s
decision to enshrine in the law the goal of achieving
net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This is without doubt a
worthy ambition for Europe that can impact the wider
world. However, the conference appears to have been yet
another missed opportunity to demonstrate that nuclear
technology might finally be judged on its merits in the
climate debate rather than political ideology.
One might have expected better of such a grand
European initiative, yet such hopes were dashed in favour
of disappointment.
According to the Commission, it plans at least € 1
trillion in sustainable investments over the next decade to
support its Green Deal, but transition fund money under
the plan will not contribute towards building nuclear
power plants.
Vice-president Timmermans himself told the conference
that, in support of the climate law, Europe has “the
science and technology and we can certainly find the
money”. But he neglected to say money would not be fairly
allocated.
He said the law would “give that extra bit of security”
some investors needed to make “the jump into the future”
in terms of providing technological projects that would
support the EU’s goal of achieving climate neutrality and a
substantial reduction of emissions by 2030. But what
investor will feel secure in pursuing advances in clean,
nuclear energy development without a level playing field
on which to compete for funds?
We have heard warm words indeed from the Commissioner,
but they offer only cold comfort for potential
nuclear technology investors. Indeed, the Commissioner
was quoted as saying in a recent interview that while
nuclear has a positive effect on greenhouse gas emissions,
he believed nuclear was “not sustainable”.
The high-level conference compounded its disdain for
keeping an open mind on climate-friendly technologies
when it held two debates with panelists. Not one nuclear
industry representative was on either panel, although a
solar power company CEO was allowed in.
Europe can and should do better than this. The near-130
nuclear reactor units in operation across the EU provide
more than half of the bloc’s low-carbon electricity output.
According to the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency
(NEA), despite a 1.1 % decrease in total nuclear capacity
across NEA member countries in 2018 (292.7 GWe in
2018 compared to 296.0 GWe in 2017), the total
electricity production of these highly-efficient plants
increased.
Meanwhile, one of the planet’s oil-rich regions declared
itself the world’s latest nuclear energy newcomer with
the successful completion of fuel assembly loading at Unit
1 of the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear plant.
The UAE said on 3 March it was the first country in the
Arab world to achieve this status. CEO of the Emirates
Nuclear Energy Corporation, Mohamed Al Hammadi, said
the move was progress towards providing the UAE with
“clean, reliable and abundant electricity to power our
economic and societal growth”.
Oil exports account for around 25 % of the UAE’s gross
domestic product, so when such a region sees the economic
and environmental value of investing in nuclear power,
one might have thought that even the corridors of power in
Brussels would pay attention. Sadly not.
A reliance on facts seems to have little impact when it
comes to changing minds and policies on certain subjects
and nuclear often seems to fall victim to intransigence,
regardless of the evidence. Therefore, it’s important for
those who work inside and alongside the nuclear energy
community to build new alliances.
The president and CEO of the US Nuclear Energy
Industry, Maria Korsnick, hit the nail on the head recently.
She was discussing some of the misconceptions that
surround the industry when she said: “What we need is a
partnership between wind, solar and batteries, and a
carbon-free source like nuclear power that can always be
there. It’s really all of that working together.”
Cooperation between nuclear and battery storage does
of course hold promise. But I’ve even seen a nonsensical
approach to EU policymaking hamper progress in the
battery industry.
A couple of years ago, the Commission launched a
‘ Batteries Alliance’ to invest in research and development
of technologies to power future electric vehicles. All
well and good, I hear you say. Indeed, that would be
true, except for the fact that the initiative unashamedly
favored one chemistry (lithium-ion) over another (lead
batteries).
The then energy commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said
the EU would invest to support firms producing European
batteries with “truly green” credentials, which he regarded
as lithium rather than lead.
However, a study compiled for the Commission concluded
that the EU should first deal with its “outdated”
rules and inadequate targets for recycling lithium batteries.
By contrast, the study said the bloc’s lead battery firms
were helping to ensure near 100 % recycling of their
products under a highly-regulated process that was
“ generally profitable” and helped to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions!
Our politicians and policymakers have got to get out of
this bad habit of stacking the cards against a particular
technology for ideological reasons alone. There is no
one-size-fits-all solution to tackling climate change and
certainly no silver bullet.
Nuclear Today
Cards Still Stacked Against Nuclear in Green Investment Deal ı John Shepherd