• Nuclear Energy is the energy in the nucleus or core of an atom
• Nuclear energy is released
  • By splitting the atom – Nuclear Fission
  • By joining 2 atoms to one – Nuclear Fusion

NUCLEAR ENERGY TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY

• A nuclear reactor
  • Is a power plant that can control nuclear fission to produce electricity
  • Uranium is used as fuel.
• Atoms of uranium are split, which creates fission products which cause other uranium atoms to split, thus creating a chain reaction
• The energy from this chain reaction is released in the form of heat. This heat is used to warm the nuclear reactors cooling agent, which results in the formation of steam.
• This steam turns the turbines, which drive the engines or generators to produce electricity.
• Argonne National Laboratory was the first nuclear reactor to produce electricity, it was located in Idaho, USA. It was in the year 1951.

BACKGROUND

• Interest groups claim nuclear energy is emission-free
• Austrian consulting firm ENCO looked favorably at the possible future role of nuclear in the Netherlands.
• The main factors for its choice were reliability and security of supply, with no CO2 emission
• At COP26, environmental initiative Scientists for Future (S4F) said “Taking into account the current overall energy system, nuclear energy is by no means CO2 neutral,”

IS NUCLEAR POWER A ZERO-EMISSIONS ENERGY SOURCE

• Nuclear energy is also responsible for greenhouse gas emissions
• In fact, no energy source is completely free of emissions, but more on that later.
• Uranium extraction, transport and processing produces emissions.
• Long and complex construction process of nuclear power plants also releases CO2, as does the demolition of decommissioned sites.
• Nuclear waste also has to be transported and stored under strict conditions — here, too, emissions must be taken into account.

HOW MUCH CO2 DOES NUCLEAR POWER PRODUCE

• Results vary significantly
• Factors need to be considered – process of electricity generation the entire life cycle of a nuclear power plant.
• A report released in 2014 by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for example, estimated a range of 3.7 to 110 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
• Nuclear plants generate an average of 66 grams of CO2/kWh
• New power plants, for example, generate more CO2 during construction than those built in previous decades, due to stricter safety regulations.

HOW CLIMATE-FRIENDLY IS NUCLEAR COMPARED TO OTHER ENERGIES

• If the entire life cycle of a nuclear plant is included in the calculation, nuclear energy certainly comes out ahead of fossil fuels like coal or natural gas.
• According to new but still unpublished data from the state-run German Environment Agency (UBA) as well as the WISE figures, nuclear power releases 3.5 times more CO2 per kilowatt-hour than photovoltaic solar panel systems.
• Compared with onshore wind power, that figure jumps to 13 times more CO2. When up against electricity from hydropower installations, nuclear generates 29 times more carbon.

NUCLEAR ENERGY TO HELP STOP GLOBAL WARMING?

• Nuclear power plants are called “modern and clean.”
• Plant construction times are too long and the costs too high to have a noticeable effect on climate change. It takes too long for nuclear energy to become available.
• Nuclear power plants are about four times as expensive as wind or solar, and take five times as long to build
• 15-to-20 years of lead time for a new nuclear plant
• World needed to get greenhouse gases under control within a decade
• In the next 10 years, nuclear power won’t be able to make a significant contribution
• Combination of excessive costs, environmental consequences and lack of public support were all arguments against nuclear power.
• Due to the high costs associated with nuclear energy, it also blocks important financial resources that could instead be used to develop renewable energy
• In addition, nuclear energy itself has been affected by climate change. During the world’s increasingly hot summers, several nuclear power plants have already had to be temporarily shut down or taken off the grid. Power plants depend on nearby water sources to cool their reactors, and with many rivers drying up, those sources of water are no longer guaranteed.