The future of
nuclear power holds the promise of continuing to incorporate fission-fueled nuclear power — an integral part of low-carbon electricity generation — as well as possible breakthroughs in nuclear-fusion energy generation, providing a long-term plan for efficient energy production.
Securing
sustainable, low-cost energy supplies that have little to no impact on the environment
is a top priority for most countries. This is why many consider nuclear energy as an energy source, particularly industrialized countries interested in reducing
their carbon emissions.
Nuclear energy likely will find a more prominent presence in the
energy industry once a variety of barriers are eliminated, and as global reductions in fossil-fuel use leave bigger and bigger voids in energy sources that will need to be filled to satisfy electricity demand.
The public opinion
swirling around the safety and regulations associated with nuclear power has
triggered a lot of debate about the future of nuclear-power generation in Europe. In
fact, Germany has introduced the “Energiewende,” with a goal of eliminating
its nuclear power by 2022, a report said.
It is difficult
to establish a clear pattern of nuclear power use in Europe. Countries such as Italy
and Lithuania do not use nuclear power, while countries France, Hungary,
Belgium, Slovakia and Sweden rely a great deal on nuclear power.
“In 2013, the world’s 392 GW of installed nuclear
capacity accounted for 11 percent of electricity generation produced by around
440 nuclear power plants situated in 30 countries,” the report said. “This share has declined
gradually since 1996, when it reached almost 18 percent as the rate of new
nuclear additions (and generation) has been outpaced by the expansion of other
technologies. After hydropower, nuclear is the world’s second-largest source of
low-carbon electricity generation.”
Twenty-seven
percent of electricity production, which translates to 13 percent of primary
energy in the European Union, was generated by 132 nuclear power plants in January
2015. Globally, 65 new reactors are currently under construction, mostly in
Asia, Russia, Slovakia, France and Finland, with 12 other new reactors in the
planning stages in the U.K.
Only one first-generation “Magnox” reactor is still operating in the U.K., with the remainder of
the reactors being second- or third-generation. The most prominent technology
used is the light-water reactor (LWR), originally developed in the U.S., but
largely adopted by France and other countries in the 1970s as a result of the
1973 oil crisis.
In the U.K., the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) was the most dominant.
For future nuclear
power production, fourth-generation reactors are being evaluated for their promise
of a much higher potential for energy recovery and reduced radioactive waste.
In 2010, the
European Commission launched the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative
(ESNII) to support three Generation IV fast reactor projects, which are
part of the EU’s initiative to promote low-energy technologies.
ESNII will advance
“the Astrid sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) proposed by France, the Allegro
gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR) supported by central and eastern Europe, and the
MYRRHA lead-cooled fast-reactor (LFR) technology pilot proposed by Belgium.”
Different
regions may have different development plans for nuclear power use, but the
common thread countries share is their desire to maintain safe operation of
nuclear plants, their interest in securing fuel supplies, and managing
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Safety in
nuclear operations is governed by international rules issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the EU’s European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
While fission
nuclear power will continue to have a significant role in low-carbon
electricity generation for years to come, experts believe fusion nuclear power for
electricity production should be aggressively pursued globally.
