Support for Nuclear == Denial

[OKIsItJustMe]

17. Economics of nuclear power and climate change mitigation policies

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/16805.full

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Economics of nuclear power and climate change mitigation policies[/font]

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Edited by M. Granger Morgan, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, and approved August 27, 2012 (received for review January 31, 2012)

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[font size=4]Conclusion[/font]

[font size=3]We present an assessment of the economics of nuclear and climate policies including decommissioning of existing nuclear power plants. Our analysis indicates that the economic and energy-related impacts of strong climate policies are more significant than the impact of restrictive nuclear power policies, both in the short term and in the longer term. The need to reduce emissions interferes with fossil energy markets and leads to significant reductions in the use of coal, oil, and gas. Additional nuclear power is of only moderate importance for achieving strong emission reductions.

Restricting new investments in nuclear power mainly has impacts in the medium term. Decommissioning existing nuclear power capacities induces a shortfall of electricity production that is partially compensated by natural gas power. The new-start scenarios suggest that new nuclear power capacity can also be an important means to fill the remaining power production gap. If this alternative is also abandoned, coal—in the absence of a carbon budget—or a broad mix of other alternatives is applied if a carbon budget is in place. Renewable energy seems not to be a prominent solution approach to fill the shortfall if nuclear power plants are decommissioned. In all scenarios with decommissioning, approximately one third of the total shortfall is met by demand reductions.

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