hopefully fusion power is soon a reality
Nations Go Nuclear As Prices Spike And Renewables Fail
https://www.eurasiareview.com/12102021-nations-go-nuclear-as-prices-spike-and-renewables-fail-oped/
National leaders around the world are announcing big plans to return to nuclear energy now that the cost of natural gas, coal, and petroleum are spiking, and weather-dependent renewables are failing to deliver. “The number one objective is to have innovative small-scale nuclear reactors in France by 2030 along with better waste management,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron had previously promised to reduce nuclear from 75 to 50 percent of its power, noted Financial Times. “But the mood has now changed,” the paper writes today. “Macron said on Tuesday he would begin investing in new nuclear projects ‘very quickly.’” “Nuclear is coming [back] to the fulcrum of the energy debate in France and much faster than I ever thought it would,” said a partner at Lavoisier Conseil, an energy-focused management consultancy.
Meanwhile, the British government is in talks with Westinghouse over whether to build a new nuclear plant in Wales, one which could provide power for over six million homes, and has pushed China out of having a stake in a different nuclear plant, Sizewell. Last year, former Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Zion Lights, led a successful push to build Sizewell. What explains the change? Rising energy prices and growing popular and political support for nuclear. Public support for nuclear energy rose 17 percentage points in France. “I do not want our country to lose its energy sovereignty under the pretext of an absurd energy transition copied from Germany,” said a conservative French presidential candidate seeking to defeat Macron.
Finland has joined France, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic in lobbying the European Union to categorize nuclear power as sustainable. According to the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Finland’s pro-nuclear lobbying marks a U-turn within the Green Party, which is part of the current government. “Traditionally the party has been fiercely anti-nuclear,” notes Pekka Vänttinen of Euractiv, “and has resigned from previous governments over the issue. Its views have become more pragmatic, and the Greens now claim to have a technology-neutral attitude when it comes to fighting climate change.”
The heavy reliance on weather-dependent renewables in the US and Europe made electricity supplies more vulnerable to natural gas shortages. Growing dependence on renewables have meant dependence on natural gas and its inevitable price spikes. Many nations are now returning to the dirtiest forms of electricity production, diesel and coal. The shift to nuclear is worldwide. Yesterday, Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, defended his pro-nuclear policies in Parliament. Kishida came to power on a pro-nuclear platform. He defeated a former vaccine minister who had criticized nuclear energy. “It’s crucial that we re-start nuclear power plants,” Kishida said.
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