Nuclear Energy: Economics and Security | economy

UN warns of countries’ lack of action to phase out use of fossil fuels Studies indicate that states and companies are not investing enough to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The reality is that emissions continue to rise in 2022. Governments and…

UN warns of countries’ lack of action to phase out use of fossil fuels Studies indicate that states and companies are not investing enough to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The reality is that emissions continue to rise in 2022. Governments and corporations have doubled their investment in fossil fuels. Like renewables. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that this cannot continue as the world is headed for “catastrophe”.

In the emissions-cutting EU, there is a deep divide between countries that support nuclear power to cut pollutant emissions and those that rely more on wind and solar power. France, the country with the second largest number of nuclear reactors in the world, has extended the life of the Tricastine plant by up to fifty years. Officials want to extend their tenure up to the age of sixty.

Germany and Spain are committed to a renewable future. Berlin shut down its last three nuclear power plants in April, culminating in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. In nuclear power, safety prevails over economics.

Two events have again made security a priority: the chaos in Niger, which supplies 25% of the uranium used by Europe, and above all the imminent danger of the Zaporizhia plant. Documented research Nuclear Facilities as Military Targets – The Zaporizhia Case(Nuclear Facilities as Military Purposes – The Case of Zaporizhia) prepared by nuclear engineer Alejandro Zurita, considers that “the war in Ukraine poses the greatest challenge to global nuclear security” due to the lack of “guidelines and rules governing the safety of nuclear power plants in war situations.”

The Zaporizhia power plant, the largest in Europe with six reactors, was shut down on March 4, 2022 following a military intervention by Russia. This work, published by the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS), describes the gravity of the situation. Even when nuclear power plants are decommissioned, Zurita explains, “maintenance is needed to cool nuclear fuel with external electricity and water. Zaporizhia now has only one power line. Various supply disruptions necessitated recourse to emergency diesel generator sets on seven occasions. Unprecedented in history. Furthermore, the destruction of the Kagovka Dam caused severe human and environmental damage, making it difficult to refill the cold pool.

“In theory, no one wants a nuclear accident,” says this former analyst at the Nuclear Safety Council, but he warns, “a potential disaster has been brewing in slow motion for a long time before the world can act. It will happen.”

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