The role of nuclear power in mitigating emissions from electricity generation

Abstract This article presents an updated overview of recent literature on the role of nuclear power in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from electricity generation. Emission intensities are strongly dependent on the country of operation and type of technology used in each category of power production options, but robust observations can be made with regards to the average emission intensity of each main alternative. The majority of emissions from nuclear energy is associated with parts of its overall life cycle other than the operation of nuclear power plants. Technological progress in especially uranium enrichment has recently yielded energy intensity reductions that have significantly lowered the GHG footprint of nuclear power, which at present amounts to 5–17 gCO 2 eq/kWh. As a result, average GHG emissions are today around two orders of magnitude lower for nuclear energy than for conventional coal-based power production. This article also addresses the feasibility of potential deployment scenarios for nuclear power and their implications in terms of global GHG emissions mitigation.

[1]  Joshua M. Pearce.  Thermodynamic limitations to nuclear energy deployment as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology , 2008 .

[2]  Bob van der Zwaan,et al.  An integrated assessment of climate change, air pollution, and energy security policy. , 2010 .

[3]  B.C.C. van der Zwaan,et al.  The role of nuclear energy in establishing sustainable energy paths , 2002 .

[4]  Roberto Dones,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Chinese energy chains for Shandong electricity scenarios , 2004 .

[5]  Takanobu Kosugi,et al.  Evaluation of lifecycle CO2 emissions from the Japanese electric power sector in the 21st century under various nuclear scenarios , 2006 .

[6]  Global Energy Assessment Writing Team.  Global Energy Assessment , 2012 .

[7]  G. Hidy,et al.  Pinnacles and Pitfalls for Source Apportionment of Potential Health Effects From Airborne Particle Exposure , 2007, Inhalation toxicology.

[8]  Hiroki Hondo,et al.  Life cycle GHG emission analysis of power generation systems: Japanese case , 2005 .

[9]  Alexander Glaser.  After Fukushima: Preparing for a More Uncertain Future of Nuclear Power , 2011 .

[10]  C. Bauer,et al.  Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Energy Systems, Comparison, and Overview , 2004 .

[11]  Scott W. White,et al.  Birth to death analysis of the energy payback ratio and CO2 gas emission rates from coal, fission, wind, and DT-fusion electrical power plants , 2000 .

[12]  R. E. Blanco,et al.  Radiological Impact of Airborne Effluents of Coal and Nuclear Plants , 1978, Science.

[13]  Benjamin K. Sovacool,et al.  Valuing the Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Nuclear Power: A Critical Survey , 2008 .

[14]  Vasilis Fthenakis,et al.  Greenhouse-gas emissions from solar electric-and nuclear power : A life-cycle study , 2007 .

[15]  S Pacala,et al.  Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies , 2004, Science.

[16]  Daniel Weisser,et al.  A guide to life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electric supply technologies , 2007 .

[17]  Thomas J Grahame,et al.  Health Effects of Airborne Particulate Matter: Do We Know Enough to Consider Regulating Specific Particle Types or Sources? , 2007, Inhalation toxicology.

[18]  Roberto Dones,et al.  Life Cycle Inventories for the Nuclear and Natural Gas Energy Systems, and Examples of Uncertainty Analysis (14 pp) , 2005 .

[19]  Steve Fetter,et al.  A Nuclear Solution to Climate Change? , 2000, Science.

[20]  Bob van der Zwaan,et al.  Prospects for nuclear energy in Europe , 2008 .

[21]  William D'haeseleer,et al.  Energy content and indirect greenhouse gas emissions embedded in ‘emission-free’ power plants: results for the Low Countries , 2000 .

[22]  J. Schwartz,et al.  Modeling the association between particle constituents of air pollution and health outcomes. , 2012, American journal of epidemiology.

[23]  Massimo Tavoni,et al.  Nuclear Versus Coal plus CCS: a Comparison of Two Competitive Base-Load Climate Control Options , 2009 .

[24]  H. R. Anderson,et al.  Black Carbon as an Additional Indicator of the Adverse Health Effects of Airborne Particles Compared with PM10 and PM2.5 , 2011, Environmental health perspectives.

[25]  S. M Rashad,et al.  Nuclear power and the environment: comparative assessment of environmental and health impacts of electricity-generating systems , 2000 .