Towards A New World: The convenient contributions of nuclear energy to a sustainable future

Over the last few years, there has been growing concern about the sustainability of the Planet as a result of increasing energy use. The major issues are: increased energy prices in the world markets; growing energy demand in emerging economies; security and stability of oil and gas supply; potentially adverse climate change due to carbon-based emissions; and the need to deploy economic, sustainable and reliable alternatives. Largely undefined “wedges” of alternate energy technologies are claimed to be needed. In light of these major difficulties, there is renewed interest and need for a greater role for nuclear energy as a safe, sustainable and economic energy contributor. This shift in opinion is being viewed by some as politically “inconvenient”, while it is accepted by others and viewed as being absolutely essential. We have carefully considered, and analyzed what are actually very “convenient” contributions that nuclear energy can and should make to a globally sustainable energy future. These include restraining emissions, providing safe and secure power, operating synergistically with other sources, and being both socially and financially attractive. In this paper we attempt to quantify the major contributions: a) The reduction in climate change potential and the global impact of future nuclear energy deployment through emissions reduction, using established analysis tools which permit varying the projected future penetration and scale of nuclear energy. b) The minimization of economic costs and the maximization of global benefits, including investment requirements, carbon price implications, competitive market penetration, and effect of variable daily pricing. c) The introduction of fuel switching, including base-load nuclear energy synergistically enabling both hydrogen production and the introduction of significant wind power. d) The management and reduction of waste streams, utilizing intelligent designs and fuel cycles that optimize fuel resource use and minimize emissions, waste disposal requirements and concerns. e) The effectiveness of available technologies to meet global needs, plus their future strategic development and deployment potential.