<strong>atw</strong> Vol. 66 (2021) | Issue 5 ı September 66 NUCLEAR TODAY John Shepherd is editor-in-chief of the online publication New Energy 360 & World Battery News. Sources: IPCC report summary: https://bit.ly/3AtOFh9 MEPs letter to EC: https://bit.ly/3xDe2eB As Science Turns Up the Heat on Climate Change Sceptics, How Long Be<strong>for</strong>e the Nero-like <strong>Nuclear</strong> Deniers Must Change Their Tune? The loss of life and catastrophic impact of the floods that swept through Europe earlier this year, coupled with the horrific scenes of wildfires raging in southern Europe, the US and elsewhere, have been the starkest wake-up call to date of the effects of climate change. Climate change deniers have still been out there, a little bit like the apocryphal account of Nero, the <strong>for</strong>mer emperor of Rome, “fiddling” while the city was engulfed by a near week-long fire. But what cannot be denied is the science telling us that human activities, including the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), are contributing to increasing climatic devastation. As I submitted this article to the editor, the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated: “Climate change is intensifying the water cycle. This brings more intense rainfall and associated flooding, as well as more intense drought in many regions.” The report added that emissions of GHGs from human activities “are responsible <strong>for</strong> approximately 1.1 °C of warming since 1850-1900”. Averaged over the next 20 years, the IPCC’s report said global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 °C of warming. The report also noted that weather conducive to wildfires could be traced to human influence and gave new estimates of the chances of crossing the global warming level of 1.5 °C in the next decades, finding that “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5 °C or even 2 °C will be beyond reach”. Energy production accounts <strong>for</strong> two-thirds of total greenhouse gas, so ef<strong>for</strong>ts to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change must include this sector and nuclear power can be a massive part of the solution – as those involved in the industry should never tire of reminding themselves and others. <strong>Nuclear</strong> plants produce almost no GHGs or air pollutants during their operation. This edition of <strong>atw</strong> is focused on uranium and the nuclear fuel cycle, so with that in mind, it’s worth reminding ourselves that over the course of its life cycle, nuclear produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per unit of electricity as wind, and one-third of the emissions per unit of electricity when compared with solar. Sadly, even nuclear has an even bigger hurdle to overcome – that most exasperating of human activity that sometimes stands in the way of fighting climate change: a combination of environmental and political dogma. Let’s take Germany, where federal elections are due in September 2021, as an example. Long be<strong>for</strong>e flooding wrecked communities along the Rhine and Ahr rivers, Annalena Baerbock, the Greens’ candidate seeking to replace outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel, thrust the issue of climate change into the election campaign. Baerbock told the German news magazine, Der Spiegel: “Germany has been <strong>for</strong>tunate <strong>for</strong> decades in suffering relatively few natural catastrophes, however, that’s meant that the disaster protection measures haven’t been sufficiently developed.” I don’t know if the would-be Green chancellor was asked about her party’s decades of opposition to nuclear energy and whether that had had an impact on the environment, but I’m guessing not. So what about other potential German leaders heading to the ballot box? German vice-chancellor and finance minister, Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrats’ candidate to replace Merkel, pledged a “billions-strong recovery programme” and said he wanted to see changes to the country’s disaster prevention plans and climate protection measures. But as I write he too had yet to spell out the details. Legislation that came into <strong>for</strong>ce in Germany in 2002 limited the operating lifetimes of German reactor units to about 32 years. The politically-inspired move aimed to ensure the gradual phase-out of the use of nuclear power in the country. Merkel, a <strong>for</strong>mer research scientist, said early on in her chancellorship that she personally was against the phase-out. Meanwhile, a group of five EU Member States, led by Germany, have written to the European Commission, asking <strong>for</strong> nuclear energy to remain excluded from the EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance – the classification system to establish a list of environmentally-sustainable economic activities. The letter was signed, Nero-like, by the environment or energy ministers of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain and pointed to “shortcomings” in a report published last April by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The JRC, whose mission is to support EU policies with independent evidence throughout the whole policy cycle, had said nuclear energy did no more harm to human health or the environment than any other power- producing technology considered to be sustainable. However, there were some who sought to keep the embers of a sensible, science-based approach to environmental economics alive. Nearly 100 members of the European Parliament called on the European Commission to follow the science and include nuclear under the taxonomy classification system. Their move was backed by Yves Desbazeille, the directorgeneral of Foratom, the Brussels-based trade association <strong>for</strong> the nuclear energy industry in Europe. He said EU member states that wished to invest in low-carbon nuclear “should not be prevented from doing so just because others are politically opposed” to nuclear. Amid all of this, it was ironic that Germany marked 60 years of generating electricity from nuclear power, after the first power supply to the grid came from the Kahl experimental boiling water reactor plant in June 1961. This was the first time that electricity from nuclear energy had been fed in and used in Germany. <strong>Nuclear</strong>’s detractors might, if pushed, offer a grudging acceptance to the impact of nuclear in tackling emissions, but they would probably go on to argue that switching the entire world’s electricity production to nuclear would still not solve the problem of GHGs. Given that electricity production is only one of many human activities that release GHGs, that’s likely true. However, the nuclear industry itself would be the first to say its technology is not the ‘silver bullet’ needed to slay the monstrosities wrought by climate change. <strong>Nuclear</strong>, by all sensible accounts, should be allowed to <strong>for</strong>m part of the solution. The sooner those who seek to lead have the courage to accept that essential truth the better <strong>for</strong> the whole planet. <strong>Nuclear</strong> Today As Science Turns Up the Heat on Climate Change Sceptics, How Long Be<strong>for</strong>e the Nero-like <strong>Nuclear</strong> Deniers Must Change Their Tune? ı John Shepherd
#52KT www.kerntechnik.com Media Partner 52 nd KERNTECHNIK 2022 Call <strong>for</strong> Papers 29 – 30 March 2022 HYPERION Hotel, Leipzig Submit your paper now! You are warmly invited to submit your paper to the 52 nd KERNTECHNIK 2022. As one of Europe‘s most recognized and best established nuclear technology conferences the KERNTECHNIK, organised by KernD and KTG, is a must-attend event <strong>for</strong> international experts and decision-makers. Interesting sessions are awaiting you: 1. <strong>Nuclear</strong> Competence and <strong>Nuclear</strong> Safety 2. <strong>International</strong> Trends and Developments in <strong>Nuclear</strong> 3. Decommissioning and Waste Treatment 4. Interim Storage and Final Disposal Our programme committee is looking <strong>for</strong>ward to your contribution! For more in<strong>for</strong>mation check: www.kerntechnik.com/kerntechnik-en/referenten
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