May 16, 2023
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 has shifted focus toward humanity’s ever-dwindling energy resources. The United Nation’s International Panel on Climate Change issued yet another report in 2022 emphasizing the imminent need to switch our climate grid off fossil fuels and lower our emissions. This report explicitly states an imperative need not only for nations to drastically reduce their carbon output, but to also speed up the pace at which they are currently doing so. The international panel made clear that this is the only way to keep the planet form surpassing the 1.5 degrees Celsius rise in temperature that produce irreversible effects on our environment. The report also stated that more than three billion people are already living in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate breakdown.[i] Green energy initiatives in many countries have focused on the use of renewable energy such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy sources. While these sources are extremely important, it is unclear whether they can fill in the energy gap that fossil fuels create.
In February of 2022, United States’ scientists announced a major breakthrough in the development of nuclear fusion energy. Fusion is different from the current fission energy of nuclear power plants in that it relies on the combination of relatively safe elements rather than the splitting of extremely radioactive elements.[ii] While this breakthrough certainly suggests that fusion may be the future of energy supply, it is still ways away from being the solution to the energy and climate crisis we now face. Due to the novel nature of fusion technology, its costs are extremely high, and it is simply not ready to be implemented. Researchers estimate it will be forty to fifty years before this technology will be able to compete in the energy markets.[iii] Its rise is also reminiscent of the past promise that nuclear fission once provided. Before being known for horrible accidents like Fukushima, Chernobyl, and, locally, Three Mile Island, fission energy was considered the solution to our energy needs for its zero-emission high energy output abilities. While fusion technology does not result in the radioactive waste that fission does, it may have unknown environmental issues when experiment becomes reality. For these reasons, it might be time to rethink the negative associations of fission technology and focus on the important positive benefits, instead.
Nuclear accidents like those previously mentioned have turned the world against nuclear fission. This led to the mass closure of nuclear plants in the United States and around the world. Despite its environmental benefits, environmentalist groups have led the charge to close nuclear power plants, citing concerns to health and the potential for a full-blown catastrophe. Modern documentaries such as Netflix’s Meltdown: Three Mile Island have sustained these fears.
However, these have only sidelined what may be our most effective tool against the climate catastrophe. In the 1980’s nuclear fission accounted for 20% of annual nuclear power to homes, but, in 2020, it was 19.7%. While this might not seem like a large decrease, twelve reactors have permanently closed since 2012, alone.[iv] These reactors, which could be contributing larger amounts of energy production, are sidelined.
Two main concerns have sidelined these plants. The first are the financial and economic challenges that face any energy provider. With natural gas’s rise as an energy source, it has come into direct competition with nuclear utility providers.[v] Also, the growth of renewable sources of energy has caused the closing of many nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy has many benefits; however, limited output has caused it to be more expensive than many alternatives, resulting in many plants relying on government assistance to remain open.
Moreover, fears about public health in the event of nuclear accidents has made it harder for nuclear plants to remain open. While there were only thirty-one officially recorded deaths from Chernobyl, the worst nuclear meltdown in history, some estimate as many as 5,000 people might have died as a result of the catastrophe. While no one died, directly, from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown of 2011, some estimates put related deaths at 573; only one of these deaths was a direct result of exposure to radiation. Locally, the Three Mile Island accident resulted in no deaths, but concerns over radiation have always been prevalent in the community. Three Mile Island sits in the Susquehanna, closed. While these fears are extremely valid, deaths from other energy-related disasters do not get nearly the same press coverage. For example, the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill killed eleven people without causing the oil industry to collapse.
Currently, the owner of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan is attempting to reopen it after closing in May of 2022. The Palisades nuclear power plant is key to helping Michigan go carbon neutral. It attempted to get a grant from the United States Department of Energy (DoE) to reopen, but, after protests from environmentalist groups, the DoE refused the funding. This immediately removed 800 megawatts of power from Michigan’s power grid. Governor Whitmer has said she will fight to see the plant reopen.[vi]
The weakness surrounding a lack of nuclear energy globally was exposed in 2022 with Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine. Since the European continent relies heavily on Russian oil for its energy, much of Europe’s energy supply came to a standstill. France, historically a leader in nuclear power, scrambled to get as many of their nuclear fission reactors online as possible. Twenty-six of France’s fifty-six Nuclear power plants were offline for maintenance. The country scrambled to get all but ten working by January 2023.[vii] This shows how Nuclear Energy can provide a national security solution for the instability of existing energy markets.
However, even if the United States were to suddenly embrace nuclear power with open arms, there are many hurdles they would need to overcome. When a nuclear plant is shut down it “starts the clock ticking.”[viii] A power plant is a highly sophisticated piece of machinery. Like any piece of machinery, it requires being operated in order to stay in good condition. As a plant is not in use, it is not being maintained. This means rigorous inspections and repairs might be necessary before reopening plants. Another obstacle is finding the qualified staff needed for such an important facility. With fewer nuclear jobs comes fewer qualified employees.[ix] For this reason, it is imperative to reopen and keep open fission power plants. The longer they stay operational, the less injection of capital will be required.
While the danger of radiation cannot be overstated, it must be reconsidered in the context of other energy industry disasters. Nuclear fission might be the bridge we need from the current power grid to the power grid of tomorrow. The government should ensure that the existing nuclear plants have the funds to continue as well invest in efforts to reopen closed plants, like Palisades and Three Mile Island.
Image via Pexels Free Photos.
[i] “Scientists Deliver ‘Final Warning’ on Climate Crisis: Act Now or It’s Too Late.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, March 20, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c.
[ii] Chang, Kenneth. “Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough with Blast of 192 Lasers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, December 13, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/nuclear-fusion-energy-breakthrough.html.
[iii] Brumfiel, Geoff. “U.S. Reaches a Fusion Power Milestone. Will It Be Enough to Save the Planet?” NPR. NPR, December 13, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/13/1142208055/nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-climate-change.
[iv] “Congress.” Congressional Reports. United States Congress. Accessed April 13, 2023. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46820/3.
[v] “Department of Health and Human Services: FY2022 Budget Request.” Congressional Reports. Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed April 13, 2023. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46840.
[vi] Person, and Timothy Gardner. “U.S. Rejects Funding to Re-Open Michigan Nuclear Plant -Holtec.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, November 18, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-rejects-funding-re-open-michigan-nuclear-plant-holtec-2022-11-18/.
[vii] Alderman, Liz. “As Europe Quits Russian Gas, Half of France’s Nuclear Plants Are off-Line.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 15, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/business/nuclear-power-france.html.
[viii] Issue Brief by James B. Meigs, and James B. Meigs. “Restoring Closed Nuclear Plants to Operation.” Manhattan Institute, March 3, 2023. https://www.manhattan-institute.org/prospects-for-restoring-closed-nuclear-plants-to-operation.
[ix] Issue Brief by James B. Meigs, and James B. Meigs. “Restoring Closed Nuclear Plants to Operation.” Manhattan Institute, March 3, 2023. https://www.manhattan-institute.org/prospects-for-restoring-closed-nuclear-plants-to-operation.
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