Energy transition: Nuclear power should be part of the solution

The European Commission recently announced its plans to declare nuclear power a sustainable form of energy. This has raised many eyebrows and had people fuming in places like Germany, which has plans to phase out its nuclear power by early 2023.

Critics are calling the step by the EU “greenwashing” and say it could threaten the EU’s plans to become climate-neutral by 2050. Environmentalists are also warning about the possible environmental impacts as consequences of a nuclear accident, for example. Some also believe that building new nuclear plants would also take too long to contribute to the 2050 neutrality goals.

However, the European Commission is only being pragmatic about the reality on the ground that energy transition should consider all types of fuels, and nuclear energy should not be excluded. 

This latest decision by the EU to label nuclear as green means that Europe is realizing that energy transition plans should be more realistic, and thus include nuclear. 

With gas prices in Europe going to record highs during the last 6 months, and with a tight gas and oil marketplace, the world is realizing that options are limited and thus should consider all types of energy sources, while staying on the path toward clean energy.

Clean energy transition means the shifting of energy production to those sources that release little to no greenhouse gases. Nuclear power, wind, and solar are some of those clean sources.

With around two-thirds of the world’s electricity still coming from fossil fuels, reaching the climate goals set by the Paris Agreement by 2050 will require at least 80 percent of electricity to be shifted to low carbon sources, according to the International Energy Agency.

Nuclear power currently accounts for around 10 percent of the world’s electricity. Currently, there are about 440 nuclear power reactors in operation in 30 countries providing a continuous and reliable power supply. This is in contrast to variable renewable energy sources — solar and wind — which require backup power during their output gaps, such as when the sun sets or the wind stops blowing. This is not the case with nuclear power. 

However, with all of these advantages, nuclear plants have suffered from a bad reputation due to higher costs, nuclear power’s safety records, and major nuclear accidents that took place during the last century. 

The last major nuclear power plant accident that took place was the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. The Fukushima accident was caused by a tsunami that hit Japanese shores in 2011. It not only caused major power disruption in Japan but also resulted in the release of radioactive materials.

This and other major accidents created an antinuclear movement that resulted in having many countries moving away from nuclear power. However, this approach needs to be revisited. Nuclear power should be part of the solution; especially, since energy transition plans are having some setbacks due to different reasons such as not enough investment in renewables, higher cost, lack of breakthroughs in storage/batteries systems, etc. 

Speaking in a session during the Davos agenda organized by the World Economic Forum last month, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Saudi Arabia would produce hydrogen powered by nuclear energy. 

The Kingdom has plans to add around 17 GW of nuclear capacity by 2040 and to bring two reactors with a combined capacity of 3.2 GW online within the next decade, according to a recent report by S&P Global. 

The main driver for the Saudi plans to go nuclear is to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons in electricity generation and water desalination and have more oil and gas to use for higher value purposes and export to the world.

In the GCC, the UAE has built a 1,400-MW Barakah nuclear reactor plant. When fully operational, the Barakah reactor will provide 25 percent of the UAE electricity needs. 

There are increasing calls for the use of nuclear power as a stable and low-in-carbon form of energy that could help the world achieve its climate targets and deliver low-carbon energy during a time when other renewable capacities are not enough. Wind and solar powers alone cannot provide the security of supply needed in a low-carbon world.

So, maybe the European Commission is listening and thus decided to label nuclear as a sustainable fuel.  

• Fuad Al-Zayer is an independent energy consultant with expertise in energy transition, digitization, and innovation. He is the former Head of the Data Services Department at OPEC and a former Global Coordinator of the JODI Data Transparency Initiative at the IEF.