NUCNET NEWS
THE WORLD’S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY
New Climate Change Book Acknowledges ‘Competitive
Benefits of Nuclear’
Another prominent international scientist and
conservationist has highlighted the economic - and environmental
- benefits of nuclear energy, especially when it comes to meeting
countries’ base-load electricity needs and helping to reduce
CO2 emissions. Australian-born Professor Tim Flannery*
discusses the impact of mankind’s activities on the global
climate in his latest book The Weather Makers.
Professor Flannery’s book also refers to
comments on nuclear, made in the past and still reiterated today,
by the leading international environmentalist Professor James
Lovelock who, according to Flannery, “had a point when he
delivered a heartfelt plea for a massive expansion in the world’s
nuclear energy programmes”. Flannery also supports Lovelock’s
view that because climate change is advancing so rapidly nuclear
power is the only option to stop it. “Lovelock is right
here,” adds Flannery, “because all power grids need
reliable base-load generation and there remains a big question
mark over the capacity of renewable technologies to provide it.”
Focusing on the economic benefits of nuclear
energy, Professor Flannery also underlines how nuclear energy
also provides competitive benefits: “As is the case with
coal-fired plants, nuclear power stations are very large and,
with a starting price of around $2 billion apiece, they are expensive
to build. The power they generate, however, is at present competitive
compared with that generated from wind.”
Although Professor Flannery analyses the problems
associated with public perceptions about nuclear safety and the
management of radioactive waste, he essentially believes in the
future of nuclear energy when he says: “It is often said
that the sun is nuclear energy at a safe distance. In this era
of climate crisis, however, the role of earth-based nuclear power
is being reassessed, and what was until recently a dying technology
may yet create its own ‘day in the sun’. “
The book is clear about the non CO2-producing
advantages of nuclear energy and equally unequivocal about the
urgent need to redress the current situation as quickly as possible:
“The best evidence indicates that we need to reduce our
CO2 emissions by 70% by 2050. If you own a four-wheel-drive
car and replace it with a hybrid fuel car, you can achieve a cut
of that magnitude in a day rather than half a century. And if
you vote for a politician who has a deep commitment to reducing
CO2 emissions, you might change the world. The transition
to a carbon-free economy is eminently achievable because we have
all the technology we need to do it. It is only a lack of understanding
and the pessimism and confusion generated by special interest
groups that is stopping us from going forward.”
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is among those who
have praised Professor Flannery’s book. Blair said recently:
“Climate change is perhaps the most challenging collective
action problem the world has faced. Almost uniquely, The
Weather Makers provides insights not only into the
history, the science and politics of climate change, but also
the actions people can take now that will make a difference.”
The Weather Makers is published by Grove/Atlantic
and can be ordered from bookstores over the Internet (ISBN N°
0-87113-935-9).
ENS NEWS would like to thank
NucNet for putting together this report.
*Dr Flannery is a member of the National Committee for the
Environment at the Australian Academy of Science, a member of
the National Environmental Education Council and he is also director
of the South Australian Museum.
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