Renew Extra Weekly

The ‘politics of nuclear power’ was the title of one of the first books I wrote, back in 1978 , with inputs also from energy experts and fellow academics. The issues it raised have not gone away, and the development of nuclear power has been a regular topic for academic study and wider political commentary, much of both being from an anti-nuclear position.  I’m about to add a new tome to the pile- ‘Nuclear Power: Past, present and future’. Actually it is a second much expanded edition of the book I did for the Institute of Physics in 2017 .  In addition to still reviewing the past, it provides an update to the technical and policy developments since 2017- and there have been lots. However rather than just plugging this new book, in most of which I have tried to be politically neutral or at least not partisan, I thought that here I would take a look back historically at the political analysis side that I started addressing in 1978- and ask how did the political/academic debate ...

Nuclear power is not popular with the public in most countries. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, a global Ipsos survey put global public opposition at 62% averaged out, with it being much higher in some countries e.g. 79% in Germany.  94% voted against it in a referendum in Italy in the wake of Fukushima.  While opposition remain strong in most places around the world, with concerns about climate change rising, there have been some shifts in view in some countries, for example, in the USA , at least according to a survey by Bisconti . But even in countries that are relatively pro-nuclear, public support for it is not that strong. For example, it was reportedly at 38% in 2021 in the UK , compared to the 79% support level for renewables, with just 2% opposed to them.  Though its strength may have varied over time, opposition to civil nuclear power has been a world-wide phenomenon attracting people in many countries. To some extent, it grew out of opposit...

‘We are not going to be able to achieve our climate goals if nuclear power plants shut down. We have to find ways to keep them operating,’ US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said before a House Appropriations subcommittee. She added that the Department of Energy ‘has not historically subsidized plants, but this is a moment to consider to make sure we keep the current fleet active.’ To that end, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure deal included $6bn to establish a new Civil Nuclear Credit programme to help keep some of the existing reactor fleet of 93 reactors operating safely as long as technically possible. Owners or operators of commercial U.S. reactors can competitively apply for and bid on credits to help support their continued operations and avoid premature retirement due to financial hardship. Each credit will last for four years. Applicants must prove the reactor will close for economic reasons and demonstrate that closure will lead to a rise in emissions. They must ...

A detailed analysis for the UN Economic Commission for Europe of the full life-time green house gas emissions from energy generation has surprisingly concluded that nuclear has the lowest- around a global average of 5 gm CO2 equivalent/kWh, with, it says ‘most of the emissions occurring in the front-end processes’ i.e. extraction, conversion, enrichment of uranium and fuel fabrication. It goes on ‘This value is comparable to the lower range of literature values because of the following assumptions: revised energy inputs for mining and milling, including electricity inputs for ISL [In Situ Leaching], centrifugation-only enrichment, longer life-time assumed for nuclear power plant (60 years instead of 40)’.  60 years is pretty optimistic, as, arguably, are some of the other assumptions for nuclear, while it is quite pessimistic on renewables, all of which it calculates emit more CO2 /kWh. The differences are only small at the low end of the range quoted for renewables, but they open...

Rapid growth of the global hydrogen economy can bring significant geo-economic and geopolitical shifts, giving rise to a wave of new interdependencies, according to an analysis by IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency. ‘Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor’ sees hydrogen changing the geography of energy trade, regionalising energy relations, and it hints at the likely rise of new centres of geopolitical influence built on the production and use of hydrogen, as traditional oil and gas trade declines:‘The push to develop clean hydrogen as a major energy carrier… might lead to an entirely new economic geography’ Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA, said green hydrogen ‘will bring new and diverse participants to the market, diversify routes and supplies and shift power from the few to the many. With international co-operation, the hydrogen market could be more democratic and inclusive, offering opportunities for developed & developing coun...

A new study ‘Nuclear for a decarbonized future’ by Barclays Research says investors have got it wrong- far from being a risky, costly, loss-making liability, nuclear is viable and bankable!  ‘We believe that the current view of investors is that almost the entire gap of required carbon free generation output until 2050 will be met by building more renewables capacity. Nuclear energy, even though still a key part of the global generation mix, is not expected to see an increase in installed capacity. This is partially because of a view that while some countries could add net generation capacity to their power markets such as China and the US, others, such as Germany or Spain, want to exit nuclear altogether. We believe that this is an overly simplistic assessment. Given the scale of the challenge to transform the global generation mix, it is likely that nuclear will have to play a more important role in certain power markets, especially where there is clear and adequate government su...

The latest round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) energy technology support scheme opened for bids in December, aiming to secure 12GW of renewable electricity generation capacity , the largest amount in the scheme’s history so far. Offshore and onshore wind, solar, tidal, and floating offshore wind projects are all eligible for support worth £285m a year. £200m has be allocated for offshore wind, with £24m set aside for floating projects, and £20m has been ring-fenced for tidal stream projects. On shore wind and solar projects are back in the contest, with £10m allocated, but with a 5GW cap.  The new CfD may of course put some extra costs on consumers bills, at a time when that really is a big issue . Energy prices are accelerating seemingly out of control. But actually the way the CfD is structured, with competition for capacity slots and a claw back of any excess income over strike price costs, it may not be too bad- it does seem to limit excess cost pass-though , unlike the...