JEREMY GORDON | OPINION The supposed benefits of closing nuclear are not real, while the


consequences of not having it as an energy source most certainly are. People now know that the antinuclear offer represents billions in wasted infrastructure and carbon dioxide emissions


Despite the embarrassing reality of their position, there is


still little hope that dyed-in-the-wool antinuclear NGOs will ever change. They love to hate nuclear. There still seems to be some fight continuing at the EU level, too, for example in the shell game of placing nuclear outside the category of ‘strategic’ technologies. This despite having lost the fight over whether nuclear power is ‘sustainable’ enough for the Taxonomy.


In line with public and political opinion, international


pressure is mounting against this kind of thing. The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, called on EU members with antinuclear stances to engage in serious introspection. There finally seems to be a real coalition of pro-nuclear nations in the EU as a counterweight to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. The pro- nuclear group actually includes Italy, the only other country with similar experience to Germany’s phase out path, having abandoned nuclear and closed its reactors in the 1990s. With the power plants closed there will probably be a


switch of focus onto other nuclear facilities in Germany, such as Urenco’s enrichment plant at Gronau. Perhaps the timing for that will be fortunate, given the recent announcement by the G7 nations of Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the USA to double down on fuel cycle investment and become fully independent of Russian supply. Why shouldn’t France or even the US buy the German stake in Urenco and make the industry fully independent of Germany at the same time? Is this bitterness towards Germany a case of sour grapes?


Naturally, to a certain extent. In an ideal world this would be a much stronger industry that enjoyed the wholehearted involvement of a capable country like Germany. And perhaps we would all be much better off in that case. But the real-life Germany of the last 20 years? Nein danke. Perhaps we should say good riddance to what amounted to an abusive partner who was constantly undermining us and gaslighting our successes into excuses to tax and restrict the industry.


If you believe the rhetoric behind the nuclear phase out


there will now be nothing standing in the way of the Greens and their long-standing renewables dream. Those annoying nuclear plants with their 24/7 availability that ‘clogged up’ the transmission wires with unwanted electricity are gone and the German grid must now be a gleaming autobahn of


renewable energy speeding unhindered to its destination. Without a word of a lie we can wish them the very best of luck with that.


At the end of the day there are only really three ways


to source energy: you can burn stuff, you can gather up ambient energy from the environment, and you can liberate it from the atomic nucleus. The first one has made us rich but comes with untold health problems and undoubtedly calamitous environmental impacts; the second kind we are already expanding and innovating as fast as we can. Germany has decided to forgo the third, but there’s no reason for anybody else to follow their lead. They closed down and stopped nuclear at the Generation II stage, making the decision to take no part in Generation III or even more recent innovations. The rest of us, who are by and large positive about making the best of the nuclear opportunities, will be the ones to bring forward the new scene of small and advanced reactors playing a wider range of roles in power, heat and liquid fuels as Generation IV comes into sight on the horizon. It was in October 1998 that an SDP and Green coalition


government agreed to legislate the nuclear phase out. At that time there was serious industrial opposition but overwhelming public support. By the time the phase out was complete that had transformed into clear public opposition and industrial apathy. Polling now shows almost all of Germany’s major political parties have a majority of supporters in favour of nuclear – even one third of Greens now view nuclear favourably. Looking an equal time period into the future, how will


nuclear look in 2047? Assuming net zero targets remain, they will be uncomfortably close. We can only be sure that Germany will have significantly less chance of meeting them due to its decision not to use all the tools that are available. The tools offered by our industry will be formidable indeed for the majority that chooses to use them. At Stand up For Nuclear the crowd said that nuclear would inevitably return to Germany one day. Perhaps they will be proven right in the end, but we shouldn’t spend time thinking about it. Whatever lies in Germany’s future, it need not be this industry’s concern. Let’s grab this chance to leave their loss in the past and strike out on a new path in which those who enjoy the benefits of nuclear also wholeheartedly embrace it. ■


Those annoying nuclear plants with their 24/7 availability that


‘clogged up’ the transmission wires with unwanted electricity are gone and the German grid must now be a gleaming autobahn of renewable energy speeding unhindered to its destination.


Without a word of a lie we can wish them the very best of luck with that www.neimagazine.com | May 2023 | 15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49