Nuclear power phase-out - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A nuclear power phase-out is the discontinuation of usage of nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

for energy production. Often initiated because of concerns about nuclear power, phase-outs usually include shutting down nuclear power plants and looking towards renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

and other fuels.

Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

was the first country to begin a phase-out (in 1978) and has been followed by Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

(1980), Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

(1987), Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

(1999), and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(2000). Austria

Austria

and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

have gone as far as to enact laws not to build new nuclear power stations. Several other Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries have debated phase-outs.

Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Germany has permanently shut down eight of its reactors and pledged to close the rest by 2022. The Italians have voted overwhelmingly to keep their country non-nuclear. Switzerland and Spain have banned the construction of new reactors. Japan’s prime minster has called for a dramatic reduction in Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. Taiwan’s president did the same. Mexico has sidelined construction of 10 reactors in favor of developing natural-gas-fired plants. Belgium is considering phasing out its nuclear plants, perhaps as early as 2015.

As of November 2011, countries such as Australia

Anti-nuclear movement in Australia

Nuclear testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear energy have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history...

, Austria

Anti-nuclear movement in Austria

Construction of the first Austrian nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf on the Danube, about 20 miles upstream from the capital, Vienna, began in 1972. Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was designed as a boiling water reactor with a capacity of 700 MW, that was expected to generate about 10% of the...

, Denmark

Nuclear energy in Denmark

Denmark does not produce nuclear energy, which is in accordance with a 1985 law passed by the Danish parliament that prohibits the production of nuclear energy in Denmark. Instead, the country has focused on renewable energy sources such as wind energy. In 2007, about 11.4 TWh of electricity...

, Greece

Nuclear energy in Greece

Although Greece has established the Greek Atomic Energy Commission , a decision has been made not to implement a nuclear power program to generate electricity....

, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg

Nuclear energy in Luxembourg

In 1978, Luxembourg proposed the construction of a 1,200 MW nuclear reactor but dropped the plans after threats of major protests....

, Malta

Nuclear energy in Malta

Malta has no nuclear energy facilities and when Silvio Berlusconi suggested that the island nation build such plants to supply Italy with electricity, the suggestion created an outcry in Malta where opinion is strongly anti-nuclear....

, Portugal

Nuclear energy in Portugal

Nuclear energy in Portugal is very limited and strictly non-commercial. Portugal has one research reactor located in the National Nuclear Research Centre. Nuclear energy activities are not planned in the near future...

, Israel, Malaysia

Nuclear energy in Malaysia

Although Malaysia has established Nuclear Agency and been actively involved in the periodic review of the nuclear option, currently there is no nuclear power generation plant neither is there a plan to embark on a nuclear power program in the foreseeable future....

, New Zealand

New Zealand's nuclear-free zone

In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, land and airspace of New Zealand became nuclear-free zones...

, and Norway

Nuclear energy in Norway

No nuclear power plant has ever been established in Norway; however, the country has a legal framework for licensing the construction and operation of nuclear installations. Also, four research reactors have been built in Norway, the first was JEEP I which was operative from 1951 to 1966. Two...

remain opposed to nuclear power.

Overview

Anti-nuclear

The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes the use of nuclear technologies. Many direct action groups, environmental groups, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, national, and international level...

has gained strength in the Western world, based on concerns about more nuclear accidents and concerns about nuclear waste. Anti-nuclear critics see nuclear power as a dangerous, expensive way to boil water to generate electricity. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident

Three Mile Island accident

The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....

and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster

Chernobyl disaster

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...

played a key role in stopping new plant construction in many countries. Major anti-nuclear power groups include Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...

, Greenpeace

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research focuses on the environmental safety of nuclear weapons production, ozone layer depletion, and other issues relating to energy. IEER publishes a variety of books on energy-related issues, conducts workshops for activists on nuclear issues, and...

, Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service is an anti-nuclear group founded in 1978 to be the information and networking center for citizens and organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues...

, and Sortir du nucléaire (France)

Sortir du nucléaire (France)

Sortir du nucléaire is a French federation of about 800 anti-nuclear groups.Founded in 1997 as a result of the success of the struggle against the Superphénix, the organisation regularly campaigns against the use of nuclear power in France and in the world.In September 2007, Sortir du nucléaire...

.

Several countries, especially Europe

Europe

an countries, have abandoned the use of nuclear energy since 1987. Austria

Austria

(1978), Sweden

Sweden

(1980) and Italy

Italy

(1987) voted in referendums to oppose or phase out nuclear power, while opposition in Ireland prevented a nuclear program there. Countries that have no nuclear plants and have restricted new plant constructions comprise Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Austria

Austria

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Italy

Italy

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

stopped the construction of a plant. Belgium

Belgium

, Germany

Germany

, Spain

Spain

, and Sweden

Sweden

decided not to build new plants or intend to phase out nuclear power, although still mostly relying on nuclear energy.

The parliamentary decision in 2002 in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

to grant a licence for the construction of a fifth nuclear power station was seen as very significant in that it was the first such decision to build a new nuclear power plant in Western Europe for more than a decade.

If countries shut down nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...

s they have to find alternatives for energy generation if they don't want to become dependent on imports. Therefore, the discussion of a future for nuclear energy is intertwined with a discussion of renewable energy commercialization

Renewable energy commercialization

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat...

. Alternatives to nuclear power include hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

, wind power

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

, solar energy, biomass

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....

and other renewable energy

Renewable energy

sources.

Austria

A nuclear power station was built during the 1970s at Zwentendorf

Zwentendorf

Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in Lower Austria, Austria, with 3,280 inhabitants. It is located at , in the Tullnerfeld on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained celebrity as the site of the only Austrian nuclear power station, which was established here, but...

, Austria

Austria

, but its start-up was prevented by a popular vote in 1978.

On July 9, 1997, the Austrian Parliament

Parliament of Austria

In the Parliament of Austria is vested the legislative power of the Republic of Austria. The institution consists of two chambers,* the National Council and* the Federal Council ....

voted unanimously to maintain the country's anti-nuclear policy.

Belgium

Belgium's nuclear phase-out legislation was agreed in July 1999 by the Liberals

Liberalism worldwide

This article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world. It is an overview of parties that adhere more or less to the ideas of political liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world....

(VLD

Flemish Liberals and Democrats

' , commonly known as Open VLD and also simply as the VLD, is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium, created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress and a few other politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999...

and MR

Reformist Movement

The Reformist Movement is a French-speaking liberal political party in Belgium. The party was in coalition as part of the Leterme II Government, and was also part of the governing coalition in the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region until the 2004 regional elections...

), the Socialists

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

(SP.A

Socialist Party - Different

' is a Flemish social-democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as the Socialistische Partij , which in turn had branched off from the Belgian Socialist Party, itself formed by former members of the Belgian Labour Party.-1978-now:The party was the big winner in the 2003 election, running...

and PS

Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)

The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party...

) and the Greens party (Groen!

Green!

Groen! is a Belgian green political party. Green! is the smallest Flemish party with a representation in the federal, regional or European parliament.-Before 1979:...

and Ecolo

Ecolo

Ecolo is a French-speaking Belgian green political party in Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium...

). The phase-out law calls for each of Belgium's seven reactors to close after 40 years of operation with no new reactors built subsequently. When the law was being passed, it was speculated it would be overturned again as soon as an administration without the Greens was in power.

In 2003, a new government was elected without the Greens. In September 2005, the government decided to partially overturn the previous decision, extending the phase-out period for another 20 years, with possible further extensions. It remains unknown if additional nuclear plants will be built.

In July 2005, the Federal Planning Bureau

Federal Planning Bureau

The Federal Planning Bureau is a Belgian independent public agency. It makes studies and projections on economic, social and environmental policy issues and on their integration within the context of sustainable development...

published a new report, which states that oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

and other fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

s generate 90% of Belgian energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

use, while nuclear power accounts for 9% and renewable energy

Renewable energy

for 1%. Electricity only amounts to 16% of total energy use, and while nuclear-powered electricity amounts to 9% of use in Belgium, in many parts of Belgium, especially in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, it makes up more than 50% of the electricity provided to households and businesses. This was one of the major reasons to revert the earlier phase-out, since it was impossible to provide more than 50% of the electricity by 'alternative' energy-production, and a revert to the classical coal-driven electricity would mean inability to adhere to the Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

.

It is projected that within 25 years renewable energy will increase to at most 5% of the energy use, because of high costs. The current plan of the Government

Belgian federal government

The Cabinet of Belgium is the executive branch of the Belgian federal government, consisting of ministers and secretaries of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. Formally, the ministers are appointed by the King...

is for all nuclear power stations to shut down by 2025. The report raises concerns about greenhouse gases and sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

.

In August 2005, French SUEZ

SUEZ

Suez S.A. was a leading French-based multinational corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. Suez was result of a 1997 merger between the Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux, a...

offered to buy the Belgian Electrabel, which runs nuclear power stations. End of 2005, Suez had some 98.5% of all Electrabel shares.
Beginning 2006, Suez and Gaz de France announced a merger.

In the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation negotiations, the phase-out was emphasized again, with concrete plans to shut of three of the country's seven reactors by 2015.

Germany

In 2000, the German

Germany

government, consisting of the SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...

officially announced its intention to phase out the use of nuclear energy. Jürgen Trittin

Jürgen Trittin

Jürgen Trittin is a German Green politician. He was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from 1998 to 2005 in Germany.- Life and work :Trittin was born in Bremen...

(from the German Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...

) as the Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, reached an agreement with energy companies on the gradual shut down of the country's nineteen nuclear power plants and a cessation of power-generation (non-research) use of nuclear power by 2020. This was enacted as the Nuclear Exit Law. Based on the calculation of 32 years as the usual time of operation for a nuclear power plant, the agreement precisely tells how much energy a power plant is allowed to produce before being closed down.

The power plants in Stade

Stade

Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...

and Obrigheim were turned off on November 14, 2003, and May 11, 2005, respectively. The plants' dismantling is scheduled to begin in 2007.

Anti-nuclear activists criticized the agreement: they saw it more as a guarantee of years of continued operation rather than a gradual nuclear power phase-out. They argued that the grace period for the phase-out was too long and were unhappy that the ban on building new commercially used nuclear power plants did not also apply to scientifically used plants. New research plants have been put into operation since the enactment of the Nuclear Exit Law (e.g. München II). Activists were also dissatisfied that uranium enrichment plants

Enriched uranium

Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...

were not covered by the ban, and indeed the enrichment station in Gronau has since received permission to extend operations. Further, nuclear fuel reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. Reprocessing serves multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing...

was not immediately forbidden, but allowed to continue until the middle of 2005.

Although the reactors

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

in Obrigheim had been shut down, the dismantling of the plant was only to begin in 2007. Activists thus were concerned that the subsequently elected

German federal election, 2005

German federal elections took place on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. They became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July...

Christian Democratic Union

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

-headed government would execute a political U-turn and restart the reactors.

A Renewable Energy Sources Act provided for a tax in support of renewable energy. The German government, declaring climate protection

Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface, energy is transferred to the surface and the lower atmosphere...

as a key policy issue, announced a carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

reduction target by the year 2005 compared to 1990 by 25%. In 1998, the use of renewables in Germany reached 284 PJ

PJ can refer to:* Either petajoule or picojoule , both SI units of energy* "Perish Judah" an anti-semitic motto used by Fascist Arnold Leese* Pajamas, a type of clothing, also spelt pyjamas in various countries...

of primary energy demand, which corresponds to 5% of the total electricity demand. By 2010 the German Government wants to reach 10%.

Anti-nuclear activists have argued the German government had been supportive of nuclear power by providing financial guarantees for energy providers. Also it has been pointed out, there were, as yet, no plans for the final storage of nuclear waste. By tightening safety regulations and increasing taxation, a faster end to nuclear power could have been forced. A gradual closing down of nuclear power plants had come along with concessions in questions of safety for the population with transport of nuclear waste throughout Germany. This latter point has been disagreed with by the Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Critics of a phase-out in Germany argue that the power output from the nuclear power stations will not be adequately compensated and predict an energy crisis

Energy crisis

An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...

. They also argue that only coal-powered plants could compensate for nuclear power and CO₂ emissions will increase tremendously (with the use of oil and fossils). Energy may have to be imported from France's nuclear power facilities, no small irony, Russian natural gas, despite the fact that Russia is still not perceived as a safe partner in much of Western Europe.

Because of increasing prices for fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

s, arguments for a "phase-out of the phase-out" were again being discussed. In the federal election in 2002

German federal election, 2002

The 15th German federal election, 2002 was conducted on 22 September 2002, to elect members to the Bundestag of Germany.-Issues and campaign:...

the candidate for chancellor

Chancellor of Germany

The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...

of the CDU/CSU, Edmund Stoiber

Edmund Stoiber

Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber is a German politician, former minister-president of the state of Bavaria and former chairman of the Christian Social Union...

, promised, in the event he wins, to cancel the phase-out. His successor and current German chancellor

Chancellor of Germany

The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

has announced plans to negotiate with energy companies the time limit for a shut down of nuclear power stations. The battle over nuclear energy, that was set to be a key issue in coalition talks between CDU and SPD, was settled in favor of a phase-out.

Italy

Nuclear power phase-out commenced in Italy

Italy

in 1987, one year after the Chernobyl accident. Following a referendum in that year, Italy's four nuclear power plants were closed down, the last in 1990. A moratorium on the construction of new plants, originally in effect from 1987 until 1993, has since been extended indefinitely.

As of 2006, Italy was an importer of nuclear-generated electricity, and its largest electricity utility Enel SPA was investing both in reactors in France and Slovakia to provide this electricity in the future, and also in the development of the EPR

European Pressurized Reactor

The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...

technology.

The phase-out remains a live issue in Italian politics. In October 2005 Italian

Italy

Environment Minister Altero Matteoli

Altero Matteoli

Altero Matteoli is an Italian politician, former member of Alleanza Nazionale right-wing party and then member of People of Freedom.Matteoli was born in Cecina. From 2001 to 2006 he was the Italian Environment Minister.-References:*...

announced interest in switching to nuclear power

Nuclear power

as the main source of energy within 10–15 years.

Philippines

In the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, in 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a Filipino politician who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, and is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga...

outlined her energy policy

Energy policy

Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...

. She wants to increase indigenous oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

and gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

reserves through exploration

Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...

, develop alternative energy

Alternative energy

Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....

resources, enforce the development of natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

as a fuel and coco diesel as alternative fuel

Alternative fuel

Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels...

, and build partnerships with Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Asian countries

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. She also made public plans to convert the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant, completed but never fueled, on Bataan Peninsula, west of Manila in the Philippines. It is located on a 3.57 square kilometre government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan...

into a gas powered facility.

Sweden

After Three Mile Island accident

Three Mile Island accident

The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....

(United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) in 1979, there was a referendum in Sweden

Sweden

about the future of nuclear power there. As a result of this, the Swedish parliament decided in 1980 that no further nuclear power plants should be built, and that a nuclear power phase-out should be completed by 2010. Some observers have condemned the referendum as flawed because people could only vote "NO to nuclear", although three options were basically a harder or a softer "NO".

After the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, the question of security of nuclear energy was again raised. In 1997 the Riksdag

Riksdag

The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...

, the Swedish parliament, decided to shut down one of the reactors

Nuclear reactor

at Barsebäck

Barsebäck nuclear power plant

Barsebäck is a closed boiling water nuclear power plant in Sweden, which is situated in Barsebäck, Kävlinge Municipality, Skåne. Located just 20 kilometers from the Danish capital, Copenhagen, the Danish government pressed for its closure during its entire lifetime. As a result of the Swedish...

by July 1, 1998 and the second before July 1, 2001, although under the condition that their energy production would be compensated. The next conservative government tried to cancel the phase-out, but, after protests, did not cancel it but instead decided to extend the time limit to 2010. At Barsebäck, block 1 was shut down on November 30, 1999 and block 2 on June 1, 2005.

The nuclear energy phase-out is controversial in Sweden. It is feared that Sweden will lose its international competititiveness. The energy production of the remaining nuclear power plants has been considerably increased in recent years to compensate for the turn off of Barsebäck. In 1998, the government decided to build no further hydropower plants in order to protect national water resources

Water resources

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water....

. In spite of extensive efforts to create alternatives to nuclear power, such as fossil fuels, it is not likely that Sweden can complete the nuclear power phase-out by 2010. It has been estimated that nuclear power plants in operation will stay in operation until 2050.

In March 2005, an opinion poll of 1027 people showed 83% support for maintaining or increasing nuclear power. Another poll in May, of residents that lived around Barsebäck, found that 94% wanted it to stay. In June, 2005, radioactive water was detected leaking from the nuclear waste store in Forsmark, Sweden. The content of radioactive caesium in the water sampled was ten times the normal value. wikinews:Radioactive leakage at Swedish nuclear waste store. This has, however, not led to a major change in public opinion. In 2006 the Centre Party of Sweden, an opposition party that supported the phase-out, announced that it is dropping its opposition to nuclear power, at least for now, claiming that it is unrealistic to expect the phase-out in the short term. It said it will now support the opposition, which is considerably more pro-nuclear than the government.

In August 2006 three of Sweden's ten nuclear reactors were shut down due to safety concerns following an incident at Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant

Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant

Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden, and also the site of the Swedish Final repository for radioactive operational waste...

, in which two out of four emergency power generators failed causing power shortage. . Cooling systems however worked and shutdown was successful without incident. Another reactor in Forsmark and a fifth at Ringhals nuclear power plant have been offline due to planned maintenance work. With five of its ten reactors down, Sweden's power generation capacity is down by almost a fifth. wikinews:Swedish nuclear reactors shut down over safety concerns

Sweden's largest powerplant with 4 reactors, Ringhals

Ringhals

Ringhals is a Swedish nuclear power plant with 4 reactors, one boiling water reactor and three pressurized water reactors . It is situated on the Värö Peninsula in Varberg Municipality approximately 60 km south of Gothenburg...

, located about 60 km south of Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

, delivers approximately 24 TWh

TWH

TWH or twh could refer to:*Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada* TWH Bus & Coach, a bus company in Romford, England* Terrawatt-hour, measure of electrical energy, 1012 watt-hours...

a year, the equivalent of 21% of Swedish electricity consumption.

In 2010 Parliament halted the phase-out policy, allowing for new reactors to replace existing ones.

Switzerland

In Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

there have been many referenda

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

on the topic of nuclear energy, beginning in 1979 with a citizens' initiative

Initiative

In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...

for nuclear safety, which was rejected. In 1984, there was a vote on an initiative "for a future without further nuclear power stations" with the result being a 55 to 45% vote against. On September 23, 1990 Switzerland had two more referenda about nuclear power. The initiative "stop the construction of nuclear power stations," which proposed a ten-year moratorium

Moratorium

Moratorium may refer to:*Moratorium *Moratorium *Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam*UN moratorium on the death penalty*2010 U.S. Deepwater Drilling Moratorium...

on the construction of new nuclear power plants, was passed with 54.5% to 45.5%. The initiative for a phase-out was rejected with by 53% to 47.1%. In 2000 there was a vote on a Green Tax for support of solar energy. It was rejected by 67–31%. On May 18, 2003, there were two referenda: "Electricity without Nuclear," asking for a decision on a nuclear power phase-out, and "Moratorium Plus," for an extension of the earlier decided moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants. Both were turned down. The results were: Moratorium Plus: 41.6% Yes, 58.4% No; Electricity without Nuclear: 33.7% Yes, 66.3% No.

The program of the "Electricity without Nuclear" petition was to shut down all nuclear power stations until 2033, starting with Unit 1 and 2 of Beznau nuclear power stations, Mühleberg in 2005, Gösgen in 2009, and Leibstadt in 2014. "Moratorium Plus" was for an extension of the moratorium for another 10 years, and additionally a condition to stop the present reactors after 40 years of operation. In order to extend the 40 years by 10 more years another referendum would have to be held (at high administrative costs). The rejection of the Moratorium Plus had come to surprise to many, as opinion polls before the referendum have showed acceptance. Reasons for the rejections in both cases were seen in the worsened economic situation.

As of 2005, Switzerland has five nuclear reactors at Beznau (Beznau 1 and 2), Gösgen, Leibstadt

Leibstadt

Leibstadt is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.-History:Leibstadt is first mentioned about 1240 as Leibesteit. In the 13th and 14th Centuries it was ruled by the Habsburgs. In 1323 two mills are mentioned in Leibstadt...

, and Mühleberg

Mühleberg

Mühleberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Mühleberg has an area of . Of this area, 53.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.9% is forested...

, and around 40% of its electricity is generated by nuclear power. Another 60% comes from hydroelectricity.

On 25 May 2011, the Federal Council decided a slow phase-out by not extending running times or building new power plants. The first power plant will stop running in 2019, the last in 2034.

Europe

In Spain

Spain

a moratorium

Moratorium

Moratorium may refer to:*Moratorium *Moratorium *Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam*UN moratorium on the death penalty*2010 U.S. Deepwater Drilling Moratorium...

was enacted by the socialist government in 1983 and plans for a phase-out are being discussed anew.

In Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, a nuclear power plant was first proposed in 1968. It was to be built during the 1970s at Carnsore Point

Carnsore Point

Carnsore Point is a headland in the very South East corner of County Wexford, Ireland. This headland is Ireland's southern limit point of the Irish Sea....

in County Wexford

County Wexford

County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...

. The plan called for first one, then ultimately four plants to be built at the site, but it was dropped after strong opposition from environmental groups, and Ireland has remained without nuclear power since. Despite opposing nuclear power (and nuclear fuel reprocessing at Sellafield

Sellafield

Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...

), Ireland is to open an interconnector to the mainland UK to buy electricity, which is, in some part, the product of nuclear power.

Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

n nuclear plant in Krško

Krško

Krško is a town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. The town lies on the Sava River. The area is traditionally divided between Lower Styria and Lower Carniola...

(co-owned with Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

) is scheduled to be closed by 2023, and there are no plans to build further nuclear plants. The debate on whether and when to close the Krško plant was somewhat intensified after the 2005/06 winter energy crisis. In May 2006 the Ljubljana-based daily Dnevnik claimed Slovenian government officials internally proposed adding a new 1000MW block into Krško after the year 2020.

Greece operates only a single small nuclear reactor in the Greek National Physics Research Laboratory in Demokritus Laboratories for research purposes.

The future of nuclear power in the United Kingdom

Nuclear power in the United Kingdom

Nuclear power currently generates around a sixth of the United Kingdom's electricity. As of 2011, the United Kingdom operates 19 nuclear reactors at nine locations...

is currently under review.
The country has a number of reactors which are currently reaching the end of their working life, and it is currently undecided how they will be replaced. The UK is also currently failing to reach its targets for reduction on CO₂ emissions, which situation may be made worse if new nuclear power stations are not built. The UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

also uses a large proportion of gas fired power stations, which produce relatively low CO₂ emissions, but there have been recent difficulties in obtaining adequate gas supplies. The UK government has just appointed a new pro-nuclear energy minister.

The Board of Electricité de France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

(EDF

Électricité de France

Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...

) has approved construction of a 1630 MWe EPR

European Pressurized Reactor

The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...

at Flamanville, Normandy. Construction is expected to begin in late 2007, with completion in 2012.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, in 1994, the Dutch parliament voted to phase out after a discussion of nuclear waste management. The power station at Dodewaard

Neder-Betuwe

Neder-Betuwe is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands.-Geography:The municipal boundaries are for a large part defined by the river Waal to the south, the river Rhine to the North and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the west...

was shut down in 1997. In 1997 the government decided to end Borssele's

Borsele

Borsele is a municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland.The name of the municipality is spelled with a single s; the name of the eponymous village is Borssele, spelled with double s....

operating license, at the end of 2003. In 2003 the shut-down was postponed by the government

Second Balkenende cabinet

The second cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands formed on 27 May 2003. It consisted of three political parties: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy , Christian Democratic Appeal , and Democrats 66 , which is the smallest of the three.On 29 June 2006, D66 dropped its support for...

to 2013. In 2005 the decision was reversed and research in expanding nuclear power has been initiated. Reversal was preceded by the publication of the Christian Democratic Appeal

Christian Democratic Appeal

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

's report on sustainable energy. Other coalition parties then conceded. In 2006 the government decided that Borssele will remain open until 2033, if it can comply with the highest safety standards. The owners, Essent

Essent

Essent NV, based in Arnhem, The Netherlands, is an energy company. It is a public limited liability corporation. Essent is one of the largest players on the energy market in its chief market the Netherlands, and also operates in Belgium...

and Delta will invest 500 million euro in sustainable energy, together with the government, money which the government claims otherwise should have been paid to the plants owners as compensation.

Australasia

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

enacted the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act of 1987 which prohibits the stationing of nuclear weapons on the territory of New Zealand and the entry into New Zealand waters of nuclear armed or propelled

Nuclear marine propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...

ships. This Act of Parliament, however, does not prevent the construction of nuclear power plants.

In Australia

Australia

there are no nuclear power plants. Australia has very extensive, low-cost coal reserves and substantial natural gas and majority political opinion is still opposed to domestic nuclear power on both environmental and economic grounds. However, a number of prominent politicians have begun to advocate nuclear power as a means to affordably reduce greenhouse emissions and perhaps allow for large-scale de-salination plants

Salinity in Australia

Soil salinity and dryland salinity are two problems degrading the environment of Australia. Salinity is a concern in most states, but especially in the south-west of Western Australia....

Asia

Renewable energy

, mainly hydropower

Hydropower

Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...

, is gaining share.

For North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

, two PWR

Pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...

s at Kumho were under construction until that was suspended in November, 2003. On September 19, 2005 North Korea pledged to stop building nuclear weapons and agreed to international inspections in return for energy aid, which may include one or more light water reactors – the agreement said "The other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of light-water reactor" [sic].

In July 2000, the Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

government decided not to build the controversial nuclear plant in Akkuyu

Büyükeceli

- Geography :Büyükeceli had been founded on the southern slopes of Toros Mountains at . It is near to Mediterranean coast and recent housing of the town is almost at the side side. It is a part of Gülnar district which in turn is a part of Mersin Province. It is on the Mersin Antalya highway. The...

, but later changed its mind.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

has 55 reactors operating and 3 reactors under construction.

China

China

has 10 reactors operating, 5 reactors under construction, and is planning or proposing an additional 25.

India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

has 16 reactors operating, 8 reactors under construction, and is planning an additional 24.

United States

No new plants are under construction but 39 reactors have had their licences renewed, three Early Site Permits have been applied for, and three consortiums have applied for Combined Construction-Operating Licences under the Nuclear Power 2010 Program
Nuclear Power 2010 Program
The "Nuclear Power 2010 Program" was unveiled by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on February 14, 2002 as one means towards addressing the expected need for new power plants...

. In addition, the Energy Policy Act of 2005

Energy Policy Act of 2005

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a bill passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico...

contains incentives to further expand nuclear power.

South America

In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, nuclear energy, produced by two reactors at Angra

Angra Nuclear Power Plant

Angra Nuclear Power Plant is Brazil's sole nuclear power plant. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto on the Itaorna Beach in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

, accounts for about 4% of the country's electricity – about 13 TWh per year. Brazil plans to build seven more reactors by 2025.

In Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, about 6% of the electricity comes from 2 operational reactors: The Embalse Río Tercero plant, a CANDU6 reactor, and the Atucha 1 plant, a PHWR German design. In 2001, the plant was modified to burn Slightly Enriched Uranium, making it the first PHWR reactor to burn that fuel worldwide. Atucha originally was planned to be a complex with various reactors. Atucha 2 (similar to Aucha 1 but more powerful) is actually more than half-built, however it never entered into operation.
Argentina also has some other research reactors, and exports nuclear technology.

Africa

South Africa is the only country in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

with nuclear power plants. It has one station at Koeberg. as well as an enrichment facility at Pelindaba

Pelindaba

Pelindaba is South Africa's main Nuclear Research Centre, run by The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, and was the location where South Africa's atomic bombs of the 1970s were developed, constructed and subsequently stored...

. There is currently an expansion policy based upon the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)

Pebble bed reactor

The pebble bed reactor is a graphite-moderated, gas-cooled, nuclear reactor. It is a type of very high temperature reactor , one of the six classes of nuclear reactors in the Generation IV initiative...

with plans to export to China, as well as opposition from groups such as Earthlife Africa

Earthlife Africa

Earthlife Africa is a South African environmental and anti-nuclear organization founded in August 1988, in Johannesburg. Initially conceived of as a South African version of Greenpeace, the group began by playing a radical, anti-apartheid, activist role. ELA is arguably now more of a reformist...

and Koeberg Alert

Koeberg Alert

Koeberg Alert formed in 1983 and started out as a local campaign against South Africa's nuclear programme, in particular the construction of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. Koeberg Alert is possibly the country's first activist green movement, apart from Nan Rice's Dolphin Action and Protection...

Environment

Anti-nuclear politicians state environmental concerns with nuclear power as arguments for a phase-out. A main concern against the use of nuclear power

Nuclear power

for energy production is safety

Safety

Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...

of the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

and people. Nuclear accidents in the past, including some at civilian power plants, have released radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases , where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places...

. The biggest, at Chernobyl, caused 43 deaths(including latent cancer deaths), hurt many people and rendered large amounts of land unusable for the next few centuries. IAEA report estimated that up to 4000 could die as a result of the accident. Some fear that more accidents will happen.

Environmental groups

Environmental movement

The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

criticize the environmental aspects of radiation

Radiation

In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...

. They criticize mining, enrichment and long-term storage

Nuclear fuel cycle

The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the front end, which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the service period in which the fuel is used during reactor operation, and steps in...

of spent nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...

and the disposal of nuclear waste. Groups warn of radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination

and demand a strict adherence to the precautionary principle

Precautionary principle

The precautionary principle or precautionary approach states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those...

where technologies are rejected unless they can be proven to not cause significant harm to the health of living things or the biosphere

Biosphere

The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...

.

Plutonium

Plutonium

Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...

, which is contained in the fuel rods, is extracted in COGEMA La Hague site

COGEMA La Hague site

The AREVA NC La Hague site is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant of AREVA in La Hague on the French Cotentin Peninsula that currently has nearly half of the world's light water reactor spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capacity. It has been in operation since 1976, and has a capacity of about 1700...

(France) and Sellafield

Sellafield

(Great Britain). In this process, great amounts of radioactive waste have in the past been dumped in the sea. The practice of ocean floor disposal

Ocean floor disposal

Ocean floor disposal is a method of sequestering radioactive waste in ocean floor sediment where it is unlikely to be disturbed either geologically or by human activity....

is now banned.

Economy

Some scholars have claimed that nuclear energy is economically disadvantageous because of the large capital costs of building a nuclear plant. The large capital costs of nuclear power plants and the associated possibility of construction delays has been a deterrent for investors because of the risk (as it has for other investments with large capital costs, such as coal plants and oil refineries). As an alternative, investors may be more inclined to choose natural gas plants, despite having a higher cost of electricity, because their small capital costs have presented less risk.

However, volatility in the price of natural gas has recently shown a greater risks to investors than it has previously, and has been making nuclear power plants (and coal power plants) more attractive than before. In the United States, this is compounded with the Energy Policy Act of 2005

Energy Policy Act of 2005

which provides some insurance against construction delays for building new nuclear power plants.

Insurance

Nuclear power plants are not insured

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

solely by private insurers. As of 2005, the maximum amount of purchaseable insurance available was believed to be US$ 300 million by the US government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

. The risks of a severe nuclear accident could be much greater (although Three Mile Island was not). Therefore, some governments provide support for insurance (see for example the US's Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act

Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act

The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act is a United States federal law, first passed in 1957 and since renewed several times, which governs liability-related issues for all non-military nuclear facilities constructed in the United States before 2026...

, discussed below). This practice is similar to that for bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

s, which are also backed with government guarantees.

The Price-Anderson Act, the world's first comprehensive nuclear liability

Public liability

Public liability is part of the law of tort which focuses on civil wrongs. An applicant usually sues the respondent under common law based on negligence and/or damages...

law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, has been central to addressing the question of liability for nuclear accidents since 1957. It is renewed every ten years or so, with strong bipartisan

Bipartisanship

Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system such as the United States, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill, act, resolution, or other political act in which both of the...

support, and requires individual operators to be responsible for two layers of insurance cover:

The first layer is where each nuclear site is required to purchase US$ 300 million coverage from private insurers.
The second layer, if required, is jointly provided by all US reactor operators: this layer is funded through retrospective payments of up to US$ 96 million per reactor, collected in annual instalment
Instalment
An instalment usually refers to either:* an episode in a television or radio series* a monetary payment as part of a hire purchase...

s of US$ 15 million and adjusted for inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

.

Combined, the total provision comes to over US$ 10 billion paid for by the utilities (the United States Department of Energy

United States Department of Energy

The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...

provides US$ 9.5 billion for its own nuclear activities). Beyond this coverage, and irrespective of fault, the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, as insurer of last resort, must decide how compensation is provided in the event claims exceed the covered US$ 10 billion. In 2005, the Act was renewed again by the US Congress as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005

Energy Policy Act of 2005

.

A criticism occasionally made is that over 40 years of research has failed to produce an industry which is safe enough to afford the costs of its own insurance. Supporters of nuclear power claim, however, that inherently-safe designs such as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor

Pebble bed reactor

should address this.

Security

Nuclear power plants have also frequently been speculated to be possible targets for terrorist attack

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

s (e.g. in Germany.)

Waste management

The long-term radioactive waste

Radioactive waste

Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...

storage problems of nuclear power have not been fully solved. Several countries have considered using underground repositories. Nuclear waste, in countries with nuclear reactors, is a small percentage of all industrial waste that remains toxic indefinitely. Spent fuel rods are now stored in concrete casks close to the nuclear reactors. The amounts of waste can be reduced in several ways. Both nuclear reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing

and fast breeder reactors can reduce the amounts of waste. Subcritical reactor

Subcritical reactor

A subcritical reactor is a nuclear fission reactor that produces fission without achieving criticality. Instead of a sustaining chain reaction, a subcritical reactor uses additional neutrons from an outside source...

s or fusion reactors could greatly reduce the time the waste has to be stored. Subcritical reactors and Fast Breeder Reactors may also be able to do the same to already-existing waste.

It has also not been decided in some countries who should pay for the supervision of areas where nuclear waste is stored. At the moment it seems likely, at least in Germany, that the state will pay for the costs caused by direct waste (burned rods), contaminated materials from power plants and from the extraction of plutonium

Plutonium

and uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

, as well as other nuclear waste, and costs for storage of contaminated waste, because the industry has insufficient resources. In the US, utility companies pay a fixed fee per kilowatt-hour into a disposal fund administered by the Department of Energy

United States Department of Energy

.

In Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, this topic has led in April 2005 to the creation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom formed by the Energy Act 2004. It came into existence in late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005...

Nuclear proliferation

Another argument against nuclear energy is the potential for close connection of civil and military usage (which in most countries are kept strictly separate). In manufacturing nuclear fuel rods, the fraction of the fissile uranium isotope 235 has to be increased from the natural fraction from 0.7 to 5% in order to be able to create a chain reaction (exceptions include some designs that use heavy water or graphite as the moderator, such as CANDU reactor

CANDU reactor

The CANDU reactor is a Canadian-invented, pressurized heavy water reactor. The acronym refers to its deuterium-oxide moderator and its use of uranium fuel...

s or Magnox

Magnox

Magnox is a now obsolete type of nuclear power reactor which was designed and is still in use in the United Kingdom, and was exported to other countries, both as a power plant, and, when operated accordingly, as a producer of plutonium for nuclear weapons...

es). A station for the enrichment of uranium (e.g. the German station at Gronau

Gronau

Gronau is the name of two German cities*Gronau in Westfalen, district Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia*Gronau an der Leine, district Hildesheim, Lower Saxony...

) could—with extreme difficulty—increase the amount of U-235 to above 80% so it could be used in a weapon

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

. Therefore, some of the techniques of uranium enrichment are kept secret (e.g. gaseous diffusion

Gaseous diffusion

Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through semi-permeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing uranium-235 and uranium-238 . By use of a large cascade of many stages, high separations...

, gas centrifuge

Gas centrifuge

A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centripetal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radius of a rotating container.A prominent use of gas...

, AVLIS

AVLIS

AVLIS Is an acronym which stands for atomic vapor laser isotope separation and is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions....

and nuclear reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing

).

Opponents of nuclear power argue that it is not possible to discriminate between civil and military usage, and therefore that nuclear power contributes to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. While it is possible to operate a nuclear power plant with non-weaponized materials, having a reactor brings with it access to materials and facilities which can be used in special low burn military reactors and reprocessed into Plutonium which is the required ingredient for building a high yield nuclear weapon

Nuclear weapon

. Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, India

India

, North Korea

North Korea

, and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

(which later gave up its nuclear weapons) all started "peaceful" nuclear power programs with research reactors that were later used to make weapons-grade plutonium, and there is great concern that Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

's program has a similar goal, to enrich uranium to weapons-grade. Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Iran

Iran

and North Korea

North Korea

do not have nuclear power plants at present, while South Africa started up its power plant long after acquiring nuclear weapons.

Design and construction of nuclear explosives based on normal reactor-grade plutonium may be difficult and unreliable, but was already done in 1962.

Much popular concern about possible weapons proliferation arises from considering the fissile materials themselves. For instance, in relation to the plutonium contained in spent fuel discharged each year from the world's commercial nuclear power reactors, it is correctly but misleadingly asserted that "only a few kilograms of plutonium are required to make a bomb". Furthermore, no nation is without enough indigenous uranium to construct a few weapons (however, that uranium would have to be enriched).

Plutonium

Plutonium

is a substance of varying properties depending on its source. It consists of several different isotopes, including Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, and Pu-241. All of these are plutonium but not all are fissile – only Pu-239 and Pu-241 can undergo fission in a normal reactor. Plutonium-239 by itself is an excellent nuclear fuel. It has also been used extensively for nuclear weapons because it has a relatively low spontaneous fission rate and a low critical mass. Consequently plutonium-239, with only a few percent of the other isotopes present, is often called "weapons-grade" plutonium. This was used in the Nagasaki bomb

Fat Man

"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...

in 1945 and in many other nuclear weapon

Nuclear weapon

s.

On the other hand, "reactor-grade" plutonium as routinely produced in all commercial nuclear power reactors, and which may be separated by reprocessing the spent fuel from them, is not the same thing at all. It contains a large proportion – up to 40% – of the heavier plutonium isotopes, especially Pu-240, due to it having remained in the reactor for a relatively long time. This is not a particular problem for re-use of the plutonium in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for reactors, but it seriously affects the suitability of the material for nuclear weapons. Due to spontaneous fission of Pu-240, only a very low level of it is tolerable in material for making weapons. Design and construction of nuclear explosives based on normal (i.e. routinely discharged) reactor-grade plutonium would be difficult and unreliable, and has not so far been done. A nuclear device has been made however from low-burned plutonium from a Magnox nuclear reactor. It was tested in 1962. Its composition was never officially released but was evidently around 90% of fissile Pu-239. This method of production was very expensive, unreliable and easily detectable (fuel has to stay in the reactor for relatively short period (few weeks) as opposed to normal use (few years)), and with a relatively small yield. All these factors contributed to the fact that apart from the test device used in 1962 no new ones were created.

Greenhouse gases and environmental protection

There has recently been a renewed interest in nuclear energy as a solution to dwindling oil reserves and global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

because electricity demand is increasing and nuclear power generates virtually no greenhouse gases, in contrast to common alternatives such as coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

. It has been proposed as a solution to the greenhouse effect

Greenhouse effect

(e.g. "nukes are green.") Several environmentalist

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

organizations dispute if nuclear power is a good solution.

Germany has combined the phase-out with an initiative for renewable energy

Renewable energy

and wants to increase the efficiency of fossil power plants in an effort to reduce the reliance on coal. According to the German Minister Jürgen Trittin

Jürgen Trittin

, in 2020, this would cut carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

emissions by 40% compared with 1990 levels. Germany has become one of the leaders in the efforts to fulfil the Kyoto protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

. Critics of the German policy have called it a contradiction to abandon nuclear power and build up renewable energy as both have very low CO₂ emissions.

Nuclear reactors do not emit greenhouse gases or ash during normal operation; however the mining and processing of uranium involves emissions. Emissions that arise from the whole life cycle are comparable to wind energy. However, an issue of debate is that greenhouse emissions from mining, milling and enrichment may be substantially greater in the future as the world's reserves of high grade uranium are depleted, and low grade uranium is increasingly used. This view is not supported by the nuclear power industry (see next paragraph).

In a semi-technical paper, Is Nuclear Power Sustainable? and its May 2002 successor, Can Nuclear Power Provide Energy for the Future; would it solve the CO₂-emission problem?, Storm van Leeuwen & Smith argued that nuclear power would eventually surpass fossil fuels in greenhouse gas emissions as high grade ore becomes scarce, putting in doubt its sustainability as part of an environmental protection plan. This paper was dismissed as false by the industry, as published results on ore extraction show 99% advantage for nuclear generation over fossil fuels on the basis of CO₂ emissions. The authors greatly reduced the claims of their paper and republished it in 2005, omitting most of the numerical values they had used, but the remaining claims are still contradicted by at least some life cycle studies (e.g. Vattenfall). All this heavily disputes an article whose forecasts are alleged wrong because the basis for them is proven wrong by current data, even 3:1 in some cases. It should be noted that industry expectations are based on finding more of the high grade ores such as are currently available, whereas the claims by Storm van Leeuwen & Smith are premised on their own projections of the grades of ores available in the future. (A report commissioned by the Australian Government on the viability of nuclear energy presents an excellent review of the literature, both for and against, Storm van Leeuwan & Smith's arguments.)

Both nuclear reactors and those that burn fossil fuels raise the temperature of water used to cool them, which can pose a health hazard for aquatic life in certain eco systems. This can include species of fish already near extinction as a consequence of hydropower and other human activities. Such difficulties can be greatly reduced by using cooling tower

Cooling tower

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...

s, which are deployed in places where excessive warming is deemed unacceptable, or placing power stations near oceans where the heat may be dispersed through a very large volume of water. Combined heat and power plants also have the potential to reduce overall waste heat, increasing the efficiency of all kinds of power station where steam is involved in generation. All other waste products of nuclear plants are contained and stored. This is distinct from other energy sources such as coal or oil where pollution is pumped directly into the surrounding environment. Without nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant

s the United States would release nearly 700 million metric tons more carbon dioxide annually. That's approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide now produced annually by automobiles in the United States.

Nuclear waste becomes less radioactive over time. After 50 years, 99.1% of radiation will be gone. This is in sharp contrast with arsenic and other chemicals that are stable and will exist forever and are released burning coal. Despite being most controversial, proponents of nuclear energy contend that the underground solution for permanent disposal of waste is well tested and proven. They point out the natural example of Oklo

Natural nuclear fission reactor

A natural nuclear fission reactor is a uranium deposit where analysis of isotope ratios has shown that self-sustaining nuclear chain reactions have occurred. The existence of this phenomenon was discovered in 1972 at Oklo in Gabon, Africa, by French physicist Francis Perrin. The conditions under...

, nature’s own nuclear waste repository, where waste has been stored for approximately 2 billion years with minimal contamination of the surrounding ecosystem. Nuclear waste is also small in volume and accounts for less than 1% (by volume) of heavily toxic waste in industrial countries. 96% of high nuclear waste could be recycled and reused, were the additional risks of proliferation deemed acceptable.

According to antinuclear activists, leakages of radioactive contamination put the safety of NPPs in general into question. It is feared that radiation release is a health hazard. To counter these concerns all nuclear operators are obliged to measure radiation on and around their sites as well as reporting all particles and radiation they emit. This has to be attested by an independent audit office. This practice is more or less the same in all countries that are members of IAEA. In a case where there is a significant release, i.e. above prescribed limits defined by NCRP

NCRP

NCRP may refer to one of the following:*National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, USA*Network Computer Reference Profile*National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy*Neil Cochrane Railway Photography...

and obligatory for all IAEA members, this has to be reported to IAEA and be given INES

Ines

Ines is a variation of the name Agnes.Ines may also refer to:* Inès, French variation of the name* Saint Ines * Inés Sainz Ines is a variation of the name Agnes.Ines may also refer to:* Inès, French variation of the name* Saint Ines (c. 291 – c. 304)* Inés Sainz Ines is a variation of the name...

mark 5 or higher, which is very rare. INES events in last 6 months can be reviewed here. All equipment is regularly checked. In addition all operators are obliged to release full lists of measurements into the public domain. An individual living near a nuclear plant will on average get from it around 1% of the natural radiation levels. That is well within safety limits. In Great Britain, detailed studies carried out by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) in 2003 found no evidence of raised childhood cancer around nuclear power plants. They did find an excess of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) near other nuclear installations including AWE

Atomic Weapons Establishment

The Atomic Weapons Establishment is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. AWE plc is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE...

Burghfield

Burghfield is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, close to the boundary with Reading.-Location:Burghfield is about southwest of Reading...

, UKAEA Dounreay

Dounreay

Dounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...

and BNFL's Sellafield

Sellafield

plant although COMARE said that a link with nuclear material is unlikely. COMARE's opinion is that "the excesses around Sellafield and Dounreay are unlikely to be due to chance, although there is not at present a convincing explanation for them".

Energy independence

In some nations there may be no viable alternatives. In the words of the French, "We have no coal

Coal

, we have no oil

Petroleum

, we have no gas

Natural gas

, we have no choice." France has no Uranium either though, and thus has to import it from Canada and Niger which has amongst the lowest HdI in the world. Critics of a phase-out everywhere argue that nuclear power stations could not be compensated for and predict an energy crisis

Energy crisis

or argue that only coal could possibly compensate for nuclear power and CO₂ emissions will increase tremendously or an increase in energy imports either of nuclear power or of natural oil. Nuclear power has been relatively unaffected by embargo

Embargo

An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...

es, as uranium is mined in reliable countries such as Australia and Canada unlike, for example, some large natural gas suppliers, which include states of the former Soviet Union.

Also, nuclear power has a high energy return on energy investment (EROEI

EROEI

In physics, energy economics and ecological energetics, energy returned on energy invested ; or energy return on investment , is the ratio of the amount of usable energy acquired from a particular energy resource to the amount of energy expended to obtain that energy resource...

). Using life cycle analysis, it takes 4 to 5 months of energy production from the nuclear plant to fully pay back the initial energy investment. Advocates also claim that it is possible to relatively rapidly increase the number of plants. Typical new reactor designs have a construction time of three to four years.

Oil producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, have pursued Nuclear Power as a cost effective way of maximizing limited sell-able natural resources over time.

Economics

An argument for proponents of nuclear power is energy economics

Energy economics

Energy economics is a broad scientific subject area which includes topics related to supply and use of energy in societies. Due to diversity of issues and methods applied and shared with a number of academic disciplines, energy economics does not present itself as a self contained academic...

. They state that nuclear energy is the only power source which explicitly factors the estimated costs for waste containment and plant decommissioning into its overall cost, and that the quoted cost of fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

plants is deceptively low for this reason. Advocates of nuclear power argue that nuclear power is a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly way to produce energy versus fossil fuels when taking into account indirect costs associated with both forms of energy production.

In some places, especially where the coal mine

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

s are far away from the plants, nuclear is cheaper, and in others it is roughly the same price or more expensive. The same comparisons can be made with gas and oil. The Kyoto protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

requires all polluters to pay for the pollution they produce and including this would make nuclear more competitive. Also nuclear power has one of the lowest external costs, i.e. cost to the environment and people. These are not factored into price but are paid by society and will only partly be included by the Kyoto protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

. In the UK for example nuclear external costs are 0.25 euro cents per kWh. That is a bit more than for wind which is rated at 0.15 euro cents per kWh, but considerably less than for coal which is at 4 to 7 euro cents per kWh, oil which is 3 to 5 euro cents per kWh, gas which is 1 to 2 euro cents per kWh and biomass which is at 1 euro cents per kWh. In other European countries it is more or less the same.

The quoted cost of many renewable generation sources would be increased if it included provision of necessary back-up power sources to cover periods when wind, sun, waves, etc. are weak and not producing power. It has been calculated that wind power

Wind power

, one of the major hopes for proponents of the phase-out, costs three times as much as average electricity in Germany.

While in many countries nuclear power is unpopular, in times of rising prices for fossil fuels, arguments for nuclear power come up again (compare ).

Safety standards

Proponents of nuclear energy state nuclear plants are safe and protected against attacks. Containment building

Containment building

A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi...

s are strongly reinforced and highly guarded.
George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, the President of the USA, called nuclear power

Nuclear power

one of America's safest energy sources in his speech about energy policy.

Proponents of nuclear power also believe that the Chernobyl accident was unique and occurred only because of poor design—especially the lack of full containment buildings—combined with unauthorized tests. They point out that no such accidents have occurred in Western reactors, which are now by far the most common design. A commonly cited example is the Three Mile Island accident, which did not release significant amounts of radioactive particles despite a nuclear meltdown

Nuclear meltdown

Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...

comparable in magnitude to Chernobyl; this is attributed to better design and containment at Three Mile Island. These were the only major accidents in civilian nuclear power plants prior to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

The is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric ,...

.

Proponents of nuclear energy also point out the high safety level for workers in the industry. From 1970 to 1992, nuclear power resulted in 8 immediate deaths per TW of electricity. That is significantly lower than the 342 deaths per TW resulting from coal

Coal

power, 85 from natural gas

Natural gas

, and 883 from hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Overview

Austria

Belgium

Germany

Italy

Philippines

Sweden

Switzerland

Europe

The Netherlands

Australasia

Asia

United States

South America

Africa

Environment

Economy

Insurance

Security

Waste management

Nuclear proliferation

Greenhouse gases and environmental protection

Energy independence

Economics

Safety standards

See also

Further reading