N-energy as climate solution

In recent years, nuclear power has been spoken of as a crucial source of clean energy, which can help solve global issues like climate change. However, the deployment of nuclear energy remains abysmally low

Onmarch21,brusselshostedafirstofitskind Nuclear Energy Summit that was billed as the most high-profile international meeting on nuclear energy ever. Representatives from 30 countries, including a few Heads of State, attended the event, which was organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The meeting was the latest in a series of efforts being made in the last few years to pitch nuclear energy as an important solution to global problems like climate change and energy security. It was aimed at building momentum for a greater acceptance of nuclear energy, about which many countries continue to nurse apprehensions.

In recent years, global nuclear advocates led by the IAEA — an intergovernmental organisationthatworksforsafeandpeacefuluse ofnuclearscienceandtechnology—havebeen highlighting the potential of nuclear power to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

The case for nuclear power

Nuclear energy is a clean source of energy with negligible release of emissions during the electricity generation process. Even when the entire life cycle is considered — accounting for activities like reactor construction, uranium mining and enrichment, waste disposal and storage, and other processes — greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are only in the range of 5 to 6 grams per kilowatt-hour, according to IAEA. This is more than 100 times lower than coal-fired electricity, and about half the average of solar and wind generation.

Some independent studies have put emissions from nuclear life cycles at much higher levels, around 50-60 grams per kilowatt-hour in some instances. But mostly, nuclear power plants have a substantially smaller carbon footprint than solar or wind projects over their entire life cycle.

Unlikewindorsolarenergy,whichareseasonor time-dependent, nuclear power is perenniallyavailable.itisthussuitableforbaseload electricity generation that solar or wind projects are unable to do in the absence of breakthroughsinbatterystoragetechnologies.

Nuclear energy features prominently in most of the decarbonisation pathways suggested by the UN’S Inter-governmental Panel onclimatechange(ipcc).nuclearpowergeneration helps avoid emissions of more than a billiontonnesofco2equivalenteveryyear,according to the IAEA. Over the last five decades, this has resulted in a cumulative avoidance of about 70 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

However, uptake has been poor

Only 31 countries use nuclear energy for generating electricity. Only seven more are working towards joining this club.

The number of operational nuclear reactors has come down from 437 in 2003 to 411 now, IAEA data show. The average life of these reactors is more than 31 years, which highlights the fact that very few new reactors have come on board in the last decade.

The total installed electricity generation capacity has only marginally increased in this period, from about 360 GW in 2003 to 371 GW now. Nuclear energy accounts for less than 10% of global commercial electricity generation, and its share has been declining for almost three decades now.

Nuclear power is also the costliest electricity right now. Nuclear reactors require high investments, their technology base takes years to build, and they have to operate under a variety of regulations and constraints.

The kind of technology breakthroughs that have driven down the costs of solar and wind in the last decade, thus enabling rapid adoption, have not happened in the nuclear sector.

The climate crisis, however, has created an opportunity to expand nuclear energy. IAEA head Rafael Mariano Grossi recently told The Indian Express that there was a growing realisationthatwithoutnuclearenergy“youwould never get anywhere near the climate goals”.

Gaining visibility at COP

Both climate activists who have been demanding minimal production and use of fossil fuels, and the annual climate conferences, have usually kept away from the nuclear industry and its advocates. But that is changing.

In recent years, nuclear energy has progressively gained visibility at these conferences. IAEA now participates in them like any other international agency with an observer-like status, organising side events and talks on the potential of nuclear energy.

At COP28 in Dubai last year, representatives from 22 countries, including several that do not currently use nuclear-generated electricity, committed themselves to working together to triple global nuclear energy installed capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels. This is an extremely ambitious goal, though broadly in line with some pathways projected by the IPCC for achieving global netzero emission levels by 2050.

Thefinaloutcomefromcop28formallyacknowledgednuclearenergyasoneofthezeroor low-emission technologies that should be accelerated to achieve rapid and deep decarbonisation. This was the first time that nuclear energy was mentioned in any COP outcome.

According to IAEA, before the tripling declaration, the total electricity generating capacity of nuclear power was set to grow by 22% by 2030 and 100% by 2050 from 2020 levels. Tripling appears to be a huge task right now.

India’s position

India acknowledges the role of nuclear energy in its decarbonisation plan. It is planning for a rapid expansion in the coming years, even though the share of nuclear energy in electricity generation is likely to remain extremely modest in the foreseeable future.

The 23 currently operational nuclear reactors have a combined installed electricity generating capacity of about 7.5 GW. At least 10 more reactors are under construction, and the capacity is supposed to triple to 22.48 GW by 2031-32. The share of nuclear energy in total electricity generation capacity is just about 3.1%, among the lowest in countries that do use nuclear energy. Even after expansion, this share is not expected to go beyond 5%.

India skipped the tripling declaration at COP28. It was not the only nuclear power producing country to do so. But India was a part of the March 21 Brussels meeting, with Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Ajit Kumar Mohanty in attendance. Mohanty said India was firmly of the view that “nuclear power is a clean and environment friendly source of electricity... and can provide...longtermenergysecurityinasustainablemanner.”

Mohanty talked about India’s ongoing efforts to triple its current nuclear power capacity by 2030, and said the aim was for nuclear energy to have a “significant share in the electricity mix of India by the year 2047”.

Former head of DAE Anil Kakodkar said India wasn’t moving fast enough to expand its nuclear power sector. In a recent interview with The Indian Express, Kakodkar expressed surpriseatindiastayingawayfromthetripling declaration at COP28 and said India had the potential, and also the imperative, to grow its nuclear energy sector at a much faster pace.

“Thereisaperceptionthatrenewableswill solveeverything.intheshort-term,thatmight be the case. But as our hunger for clean energy increases,thedemandcannotbemetwithout getting into nuclear energy in a big way. Every projection shows that,” Kakodkar said.