Nuclear power plants being revived worldwide:
But what to do with radioactive waste remains an issue
Mar 11 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Laurie Goering Chicago Tribune
A year after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, amid panic worldwide
about the safety of nuclear energy, Sweden voted to ban construction of new
nuclear power plants and phase out its existing ones.
Now, like many countries across Europe, it is changing its mind. Last month,
the government proposed allowing the construction of new reactors to replace
the country's aging ones, which provide nearly half the nation's
electricity.
Swedes have made their peace with nuclear plants, not only because memories
have faded and safety records improved after 30 years, but also because
reactors are seen as one of the few options available to nations wanting to
rapidly slash greenhouse gas emissions.
"People shout about wind power, but it's only providing 2 percent" of
Sweden's electricity, said Ake Hjort, a Swedish energy engineer. "To replace
one nuclear plant you need 5,000 to 6,000 windmills. For us, it's not a
question of wind power or nuclear power but the proper mix."
As the Obama administration and other governments around the world look for
ways to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas
emissions, nuclear power is enjoying a revival, even among some of its
toughest critics. And some nations where green movements once railed against
nukes now are at the forefront of finding solutions to lingering problems
such as long-term storage of radioactive waste.
The United States, which has more than 100 working reactors -- the world's
largest number -- has 32 new plants either planned or proposed. China, in an
effort to cut air pollution from coal plants and feed huge new demand for
power, is building 11 reactors and laying plans for nearly 100 more.
Europe, which has focused on building renewable-energy capacity to cut
greenhouse gas emissions, now acknowledges that meeting its tough targets
will be nearly impossible without new nuclear plants.
"It's the only large-scale ... technology we have for zero emission power,"
said Ian Cronshaw, head of energy diversification for the Paris-based
International Energy Agency.
Enthusiasm for nuclear power is coming from some remarkable quarters. Italy,
which shut down its last two nuclear plants after the Chernobyl nuclear
disaster in 1986, now plans to build eight to 10 new reactors to cut its
heavy reliance on imported energy. Finland and Sweden are well on their way
to building long-term nuclear waste storage.
Even oil-producing nations such as Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates
are among more than 40 new nations interested in acquiring nuclear power.
The two energy giants, like Russia, "want to sell their oil and gas at nice
prices to people hooked on it and not use too much domestically," said Steve
Kidd, director of strategy and research for the World Nuclear Association, a
London-based nuclear power lobbying group.
President Barack Obama, while promising to "safely harness nuclear power"
for the U.S. energy mix, has so far shown more enthusiasm for renewable
power than nuclear plants. On Thursday, his energy secretary also confirmed
that a 27-year effort to build a national nuclear waste depository at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada is being abandoned.
But Britain's government, which five years ago held a similarly skeptical
view of nuclear power, "today realizes renewables can't do everything," Kidd
said. With production from Britain's aging gas fields dropping about 8
percent a year, the country now plans to use up to six new reactors to make
up some of the shortfall, Cronshaw said.
Whether the more than 370 reactors proposed or planned worldwide are ever
built remains in considerable doubt, nuclear experts say. Nuclear power
plants are more expensive than most fossil-fuel alternatives, and finding
financing for them will prove difficult as the world grapples with
widespread recession.
Long-term storage of nuclear waste also remains a serious problem. Finland
and Sweden, the only countries in the world closing in on a long-term
solution for high-level nuclear waste, plan to put theirs in underground
bedrock tunnels but are still grappling with issues of the long-term
security of the material, which will remain radioactive for a hundred
thousand years.
France manages its own nuclear waste problem in part by reprocessing spent
fuel, which produces new usable uranium but also, controversially, the
plutonium needed for nuclear weapons.
lgoering@tribune.com
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