The next few slides summarise some of the benefits of nuclear power. Some of the downside points have already been addressed in earlier sections. More will be addressed within sections of this fourth presentation.
This next slide came from literature we collected during our visit to Sweden in 2009. Vattenfall built, operated and decommissioned many forms of electricity generation in Sweden and other European nations. They undertook lifecycle analyses of a number of “pollutants”. At the time I was particularly interested in their studies on sulfur dioxide. The next slide shows their results for carbon dioxide.
Nuclear power, by their calculations, produced less carbon dioxide than any other power source. I noticed a recent report by Vattenfall looking closely at the fuel part of the data for nuclear power including mining and all the processes to produce the fuel pellets and came up with an even lower life cycle data for nuclear power.
The world uses 25,000 TWh
Wind and solar power require a much greater volume of metals and other materials to produce the same amount of power as nuclear energy. There is also all the battery storage and transmission infrastructure required. It is often argued that nuclear power stations take too long to build. What about the time it takes to set up new mines to provide the necessary materials? There are already supply chain shortages for a number of metals.
The new wave of nuclear power will include Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested that we need to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants if we are to reach the Net Zero Scenario. The dark blue shows the existing nuclear power plants, the light blue area what is planned or should be planned in 2050, while the green shows the quantity that the IEA says we should be building. We need to accelerate our nuclear programs around the world.
Since January 2022, while some nations have been shutting down nuclear power plants, the number of new construction starts has accelerated and many nations are planning new nuclear power plants.
My Blog has become My Nuclear Journey 