Nuclear Energy: No Solution to Climate Change
Nuclear power too dangerous and ineffective to genuinely address climate change
Date: 8-Sep-2005
The nuclear industry, long in decline in Europe and the US, has seized on climate change to promote nuclear power as a 'climate friendly' energy source.
Environmental and medical groups reject this simplistic so-called solution to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power poses unacceptable proliferation and security risks, it is not clean, it is not cheap and there is no answer to the intractable problem of nuclear waste.
In any case, the potential for nuclear power to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuels is limited. Remember, nuclear power is used almost exclusively for electricity generation, which is responsible for less than one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. A doubling of global nuclear power output by 2050 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by just 5% - not nearly enough to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
The true climate-friendly solutions to Australia's energy and greenhouse problems lie in renewable energy - such as wind and solar power - and stopping so much energy being wasted.
Renewable energy already provides the world with more electricity than nuclear power. The share from renewable energy is rising, while nuclear's share is falling.
A coalition of environment and public heath groups has released a report examining these issues and challenging the argument that nuclear power is 'clean' and a potential fix for climate change. 'Nuclear Energy: No Solution to Climate Change', was launched in the first week of September at Parliament House, Canberra, by former Australian Ambassador to South Korea and nuclear proliferation expert Professor Richard Broinowski.
The report, written by Dr Jim Green from Friends of the Earth, shows that nuclear power is a dangerous and inefficient way to address climate change. It also shows why policy-makers should focus on the practical benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency - safe, proven technologies, available now.