The (radioactive) elephant in the room: nuclear as part of the Energy Transition In Europe?

In this episode, Agneta Rising, Director General of the World Nuclear Association, joins Joana Freitas to discuss the role of nuclear energy in the energy transition. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2018 nuclear power provided 10% of global electricity supply and 25% of electricity supply in Europe. Although no new nuclear plants have been built in Europe in the last few years, Agneta Rising points out that the global scenario looks positive. In Asian countries, like India, China and South Korea, there is a growing number of new nuclear plants, while there are also newcomer countries, which is the case of United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belarus and Bangladesh. Nuclear is a zero-carbon, dispatchable, baseload energy source, and in many cases at a very competitive cost. “We can see in countries that have used and started to use nuclear energy how they boosted their economy and how many jobs they also created”, Agneta Rising adds. However, in Europe, public opinion seems divided, especially after the Fukushima accident. Regarding the Fukushima accident, Agneta Rising notes that “nobody has died and there is no expectation that anyone will die because of the radiation” and the experience from this accident has been taken into account to upgrade the safety of every reactor around the world. “There is a lot of myths about the accident”, Agneta Rising says. In addition to the safety issues regarding nuclear reactors, environmental organizations, as Greenpeace, have been raising concerns on the ability to handle nuclear waste. In Agneta Rising’s perspective, countries with nuclear plants have been successfully managing nuclear waste since nuclear started producing more than 60 years ago. “It’s not a large problem and it’s not a highly technical problem. It’s more a problem of just getting political decisions, supporting and choosing a good site.”