Stichting Laka

Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Nuclear Energy - No solution to Climate Change (1997)

Auteur	Greenpeace
Datum	september 1997
Classificatie	6.01.2.16/23 (KE & BROEIKAS - WEL/NIET OPLOSSING + SCENARIO'S)
Voorkant

1. Introduction

The nuclear industry is in near-terminal decline world-wide, following its failure 
to establish itself as a clean, cheap, safe or reliable energy source. The on-going 
crisis in nuclear waste management, in safety and in economic costs have severely 
undermined the industry's credibility. It is currently desperate to find a valid 
rationale and justification for renewed state support and funding. It is promoting 
the claim that as nuclear power stations do not emit carbon dioxide, the major 
greenhouse gas, switching from fossil fuels to nuclear power is the only way to 
cut Carbon Dioxide (CO2) without radically changing consumption patterns. 
However, even the most perfunctory examination of the issue shows that nuclear 
power has no role whatever in tackling global climate change. In fact quite the 
opposite is true; any resources expended on attempting to advance nuclear power 
as a viable solution would inevitably detract from genuine measures to reduce the 
threat of global warming.

There has been a marked downward world-wide trend in the fortunes of the nuclear 
industry throughout the last two decades. By the end of 1998, it is expected that no 
new reactors whatever will be under construction anywhere in either North America 
or in Western Europe (1). Global orders have declined from a high point in 1968, 
when over 40 GW of nuclear plant orders were placed, to the position today where 
the industry is barely able to replace the capacity of those reactors being closed.

It is clear that immediate action is needed to halt climate change. Instant cuts in 
CO2 emissions must be made. Electricity production is a major source of CO2. To 
tackle global warming, we therefore have to look for ways of producing and using 
electricity which significantly lessen the CO2 burden. And in deciding how best 
to tackle global warming, we have to take into account both the cost effectiveness 
of alternatives to fossil fuels, the cost of their environmental impact and their 
impact on global security.

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