What we need to know!
What is the objective of Legislators for Nuclear?
Who is behind this initiative?
The goal of Legislators for Nuclear is to connect those involved in setting the legislative and regulatory context for nuclear power, to increase understanding, share best practice and positively influence how nuclear power is presented, regulated, and implemented.
L4N was conceived by UK legislators Lord Ravensdale and Baroness Worthington. Secretariat and legal services are provided by Castletown Law thanks to a seed grant provided by the foundation Homeland Conservation.
Why Nuclear Power?
Are nuclear reactors safe?
Nuclear power has numerous advantages over other sources of energy generation:
It generates electricity with zero greenhouse gas emissions, making it an important tool in the fight against climate change.
Nuclear fuel has high energy density, meaning a small amount of fuel can produce a great deal of energy, and is still highly abundant. The resource requirements and land take of nuclear power compare positively with other sources of clean electricity which rely on more extensive sources of power.
Nuclear power plants can be extremely cost-competitive over their full lifetime, which can span over 50 years. Nuclear costs are often misrepresented in financial models which discount the contribution they make in the later decades of operation. Models also tend to select one or two reference values for the cost of nuclear when the actual costs differ greatly depending on the technology selected, the country of licensing and operation, and the cost of capital which makes up a large proportion of the upfront costs. Policies and regulations, therefore, have a major impact on the overall cost of nuclear energy.
Nuclear power provides security as it provides a domestically produced source of energy that is not subject to fluctuations in global oil and gas markets or world crises or conflicts.
Nuclear power stations come in a range of different sizes, using different technologies and fuels making them a diverse range of solutions that can meet the needs of both the electricity grid and industrial and commercial energy customers.
The safety record of the nuclear industry is generally excellent. There have been some high-profile accidents (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima) but lessons have been learned in relation to design and safety features, and in all cases, whilst no injury or death is acceptable, the number that were directly related to nuclear power was often minimal.
For example, the single largest source of casualties at Fukushima was from the earthquake, tsunami, and evacuation not the nuclear power plant. Furthermore, in that specific instance the reactor was redesigned so that the cause of the potential meltdown could simply not occur. This is a feature of modern reactor development, eliminating the already unlikely chance that a reactor will become dangerous.
What about nuclear waste?
How quickly can nuclear power increase capacity?
What sorts of nuclear generators are there?
Nuclear waste is now handled very responsibly and safely. Compared to other sources of energy, the amount of high hazardous waste produced is actually very small, especially compared to fossil fuels which are the root cause of global warming. Most nuclear waste can be stored in sealed containers and buried indefinitely, in a very small area and the already small amount of waste can be reduced even further by new nuclear technologies which reuse previously unusable material.
As with costs, this is greatly affected by the choice of technology and regulatory environment. Keeping existing nuclear capacity on-line and enabling safe life extensions is an available solution today. For new reactors recent projects in China, the Sanmen 1 and 2 reactors and Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant have been commissioned and brought online in less than a decade. Most new nuclear projects, including those using new designs, will contribute to emissions reductions in the 2030s and beyond.
Most of the world’s reactors use water as a coolant. They are also extremely large in scale and capacity. However, new types of reactors are being pioneered.
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are more compact and flexible reactors compared to larger power plants. Their size and reduced footprint mean that they can be deployed cheaply and in more locations, such as remote areas or industrial sites.
In addition, generation IV reactors are under development. This is a category of reactor that further increases the safety and flexibility of nuclear power.