Member of the Dutch Parliament, Dilan Yesilgoz, recently won passage of legislation that could open the door to more nuclear power in Europe.
ANP
Lawmakers in Ohio yesterday took decisive action to save the state’s nuclear power plants, giving momentum to efforts to defend and expand nuclear energy globally.
On October 20, pro-nuclear activists will “Stand Up for Nuclear” in actions in capitals around the world, building on the momentum started with Nuclear Pride Fests in Munich last October and in Brussels this spring.
Since 2016, pro-nuclear advocates have won major victories saving or expanding nuclear in New York, Illinois, South Korea, Taiwan, New Jersey, Connecticut.
A majority of lawmakers in the Netherlands want to build more nuclear plants, and Dilan Yesilgoz, the chairperson of the climate and energy committee for the VVD, the largest political party in the Netherlands, recently passed legislation that could open the door to more nuclear.
Voters in Taiwan will likely to elect a new, pro-nuclear president next January, and pass pro-nuclear ballot initiatives, which would re-start closed nuclear power plants.
In South Korea, a public opinion survey by Gallup found that 70% of voters now oppose the government’s phase-out of nuclear energy, which has increased electricity prices, air pollution, and the country’s use of coal and natural gas.
Around the world, the public and lawmakers express growing concern that their nations will become too dependent on natural gas.
I testified before the Ohio legislature four times since 2016 and each time found lawmakers worried that, with coal plants closing, their state might become wholly dependent on natural gas.
“Our goal all along has been to save the nuclear plants, save the jobs but also to keep the cost of energy down for the ratepayer,” Ohio’s governor said.
The worry is more acute in Asia and Europe, where nations must import their natural gas from abroad.
When I visited Belgium in February, the leadership of the nation’s largest political party forcefully defended the continued operation of its nuclear plants and declared they were open to building new ones.
Last month, Belgian energy authorities warned that the country will face electricity shortages if nuclear is phased out in 2025.
In France, President Emanual Macron last year delayed efforts to phase out nuclear from 2025 to 2035, with a priority on closing coal plants first.
Politicians and the public increasingly recognize that unreliable renewables like solar panels and industrial wind turbines cannot adequately power modern societies.
Where Germany used to be held up as a model, it is increasingly viewed as having pursued the wrong approach to energy by phasing out nuclear plants and trying to rely on renewables.
Germany spends nearly twice as much for electricity that produces 10 times more carbon emissions as French electricity.
As part of the legislation to save nuclear power, lawmakers in Ohio ended renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates, recognizing that the efficiency programs haven’t been cost-effective while renewables increase the price of electricity.
Ohio nuclear plants provide eight times more electricity than all of the state’s solar and wind combined.
Lawmakers around the world are increasingly taking note of the severe impact that industrial wind turbines have on wildlife. Industrial wind turbines today threaten several bird and bat species with extinction.
Conservationists and birders in Ohio have hotly opposed a proposal to build dozens of turbines on Lake Erie, which is home to dozens of threatened, endangered, and high-conservation value bird species
Then there is the economics. It would have cost $25 billion to replace Ohio’s nuclear plants with solar and $22 to replace them with wind — and taken 300 to 2,600 times more land.
Meanwhile, Britain is moving forward with plans to expand nuclear energy, out of the recognition that wind energy is too unreliable
Thanks to progress being made building a new nuclear plant at Hinkley, Britain may opt to build more French reactors, known as the EPR. Experts anticipate the cost will be significantly less, thanks to standardization and learning.
While the replacement of coal with natural gas lowered air pollution in many nations over the last decade, increased use of natural gas resulted in higher emissions in the US and other countries in 2018. Emissions rose over 3% in the US.
In Singapore, the chief executive of a major government investment fund and wife to the Prime Minister published a long pro-nuclear article.
“Overall, for a greener earth and to reduce carbon emissions, we must master and adopt nuclear energy as a key solution,” she said. “This will reduce the demand for fossil fuels, and lower the overall carbon emissions.”
Support for nuclear in the US may be increasing out of recognition of its role in reducing global warming. “The latest results show a modest increase in support for nuclear power,” noted Gallup in April, “possibly in response to increased oil prices in 2019. Or perhaps some of the increase in support stems from the fact that nuclear energy generates emissions-free electricity — 60% of Americans favor dramatically reducing the use of fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
