Report says nuclear power unlikely to solve climate change

Washington (Platts)--18Apr2007

Nuclear power is unlikely to play a major, near-term role in countering
climate change or in strengthening US energy security, according to a Council
on Foreign Relations special report released April 18.
The report, by council science and technology fellow Charles Ferguson,
said there might not be the required supply of materials and labor to
accommodate a rapid near-term expansion of nuclear power to counter climate
change.
The US now has 103 operating power reactors. "Even with 20-year
extensions of their planned lifespan, all existing reactors will likely need
to be decommissioned by the middle of the century," the council added in a
press statement. According to the report, a reactor would have to be built in
the US every four to five months over the next 40 years just to replace the
existing fleet. For that reason alone, it said, nuclear power won't be a major
part of the solution for at least the next 50 years.