Sustainable energy roadmap gives nuclear directions

A new report aimed at directing global energy development says the fundamental challenges facing nuclear power are as much political and social as they are technological and scientific, and calls for a transparent and scientifically driven re-examination of nuclear energy issues as a matter of urgency.

The InterAcademy Council describes its report, Lighting the way: Toward a sustainable energy future, as a "science, technology and policy roadmap for developing energy resources to drive economic growth in both industrialized and developing countries while also securing climate protection and global development goals."

One of the report's nine conclusions is devoted to nuclear energy, which the report says can continue to make a significant contribution to the world's energy as a low-carbon resource. However, nuclear's potential is currently limited by concerns related to cost, waste management, proliferation and plant safety. It recommends that "a transparent and objective re-examination of the issues that surround nuclear power and their potential solutions" should be carried out as soon as possible, and its findings used to educate both the public and policy makers.

A global renaissance of nuclear power is unlikely to materialize over the next few decades, the report says, without substantial governmental support; international collaboration to address safety, waste, and proliferation concerns; changes in public perception; and the imposition of greenhouse gas constraints that would make low- or non-carbon energy technologies more cost-competitive with their currently cheaper fossil-fuel counterparts.

More specifically, the report recommends replacing the world's current fleet of ageing reactors with plants incorporating improved passive safety features; addressing cost issues by the development of standardized reactor designs; improving the understanding of the impacts of long-term ageing on nuclear reactor systems, such as neutron damage to materials; developing safe, retrievable waste management solutions based on dry-cask storage; and addressing the risk that civilian nuclear materials and knowledge could be diverted to weapons use by continued research on proliferation-resistant fuel cycle technology, including fast neutron reactors to burn down the waste from thermal neutron reactors, and efforts to strengthen existing international frameworks and mechanisms.

The report's writers say its nine conclusions, each with associated recommendations, have been formulated as a holistic approach towards a secure energy future - no single recommendation can be fully successful without implementing the others. However, it calls for immediate and simultaneous action in three areas: improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon intensity of the world economy including the world wide introduction of price signals for carbon emissions; the development of technologies to capture and sequester carbon from fossil fuels, especially coal; and acceleration of the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies in an "environmentally responsible" way.

"The 'business as usual' energy path we are on today is not sustainable and is counter to the long-term prosperity of every nation," said Steven Chu, co-chair of the Lighting the Way study panel and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA.

The Netherlands-based InterAcademy Council was founded in 2000 by science academies from around the world to provide high quality advice to international bodies - such as the United Nations and the World Bank - as well as to other institutions. It prides itself on the scientific quality of its reports, the policy-relevance of its recommendations and the absence of regional or national bias. Lighting the way was commissioned by the governments of China and Brazil.

Further information

InterAcedemy Council : Lighting the way: Toward a sustainable energy future

WNA's Sustainable Energy information paper