‘All of the expert advice says nuclear has a really important role to play in the energy system. So said UK Energy Secretary Ed Milliband, announcing an extra £14.2bn allocation for the proposed new Sizewell C reactor. Putting it charitably, he seems to have been poorly informed. As I noted in an earlier post, there are many expert studies suggesting that there is no need for nuclear and that, in fact, it is a poor choice compared with renewables - which are cheaper as a way to respond to climate change . At least one of the submissions that I have seen to the ongoing Nuclear Roadmap Inquiry , run by the energy security and net zero Select Committee, takes a similar line- nuclear is too costly, slow and unreliable, with offshore wind being a better option. However, it seems that the Select Committee will not start work on its report until later in the year, so it may be a while before we can see the results of its deliberations and all the submissions. And, meanwhile, the ...
A new report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) from Greenpeace, produced by Öko-Institut in Germany, says that, by 2030, carbon emissions from AI datacentres will be six times the 2023 level, and notes that ‘leading players in the field of AI are increasingly turning to nuclear energy to meet the growing electricity demands of their data centres.’ It says that Google explicitly defines nuclear as clean energy and has signed agreements to purchase electricity from small modular reactors (SMRs). Amazon similarly justifies its investments in nuclear and has signed three new agreements to support nuclear projects, including SMRs. Meta has, it says, gone a step further, expressing interest in developing its own nuclear power projects specifically to power its AI data centres. And in addition to its support for a revamp of old closed Three Mile Island plant, Microsoft has been promoting ‘advanced nuclear’ as a key part of its carbon-free electricity strategy. Greenpeace notes that ...