{"id":255049,"date":"2023-04-28T12:27:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T10:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255049"},"modified":"2023-04-28T12:27:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T10:27:34","slug":"nuclear-energy-is-a-game-changer-but-not-for-climate-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255049","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear Energy Is a Game Changer, But Not for Climate Reasons!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Cooling towers emit vapor into the night sky at a nuclear power plant operated by EON SE in Grohnde, Germany, on Wednesday, Aug. 07, 2013. Germany’s air pollution is set to worsen for a second year, the first back-to-back increase since at least the 1980s, after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to shut nuclear plants led utilities to burn more coal. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Vijay Jayaraj<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\u00a0Real Clear Energy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy offers humanity the safest, most efficient approach to harnessing natural resources for its use. As the densest energy source available, nuclear fuel requires the least amount of material and land for electricity production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is sufficient reason to support the technology. Yet, some promote it as a means to address a manufactured climate emergency \u2013 worse yet, as a mere stop-gap in a transition to weather-dependent wind turbines and solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting nuclear energy as a so-called solution to climate change damages the credibility of those making the case and detracts from the real benefits of the technology. Suggesting that nuclear is only a bridge to the least dense energy sources \u2013 wind and solar \u2013 is absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist. However, it was not until the 1930s that scientists understood that its atoms could be split to release energy.

According to the World Nuclear Association<\/a>, \u201cUranium has the advantage of being a highly concentrated source of energy which is easily and cheaply transportable. The quantities needed are very much less than for coal or oil. One kilogram of natural uranium will yield about 20,000 times as much energy as the same amount of coal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike intermittent solar and wind energy, nuclear power plants can operate virtually continuously to provide a steady source of electricity. In the United States, for example, nuclear plants have an average capacity factor of over 93 percent, compared to around 35 percent for wind power and even less for solar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is no wonder that some of the world\u2019s leading economies rely heavily on nuclear. More than 70 percent of all electricity consumed in France comes from nuclear. All the aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy are nuclear powered, as are about 40 percent of major U.S. naval combatant vessels.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve come across multiple people who advocate for nuclear energy as a solution to a climate crisis. The problem is not with their advocacy of nuclear energy. Rather, their misstep is accepting a popular, but fallacious, theory that carbon dioxide is dangerously overheating the planet \u2013 or with their lacking the courage to confront the falsehood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortitude is required in the politicized milieu of the climate debate to state the simple fact that very significant climate change occurred many times well before there were industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Periods warmer than today existed 2,000 and 1,000 years ago when Romans grew citrus in northern England and Vikings grew barley on Greenland, respectively. The modern warming phase that began in the 17th<\/sup> century, starting the exit of the Little Ice Age, was well underway at the advent of our era of heavy industrialization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the effect of CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels  on atmospheric temperature is a highly debated topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be a debate acknowledged in the mainstream media or by political elites, but thousands of scientists view assertions that CO2 is driving dangerous warming as gross exaggerations contrary to common sense and scientific integrity. Computer models attempting to predict the warming effect of CO2 almost universally fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, people advocating for nuclear power on the basis of its potential to address a nonexistent climate emergency undermine their arguments for the technology\u2019s actual benefits of safety and efficiency. The last thing we want is a mischaracterization of a wonderful and groundbreaking technology in the name of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is awesome, and supporters should make an equally awesome \u2013 and factual \u2013 case for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the\u00a0<\/em>CO2 Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master\u2019s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, UK and resides in India.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Periods warmer than today existed 2,000 and 1,000 years ago when Romans grew citrus in northern England and Vikings grew barley on Greenland, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":255053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819108,691818056,691818102,691819102,691818507],"class_list":{"0":"post-255049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-crisis","11":"tag-computer-models","12":"tag-nuclear-energy","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0nuclear-energy.jpeg?fit=1460%2C913&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-14lH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":241678,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=241678","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":0},"title":"In Unexpected Swing, Germany\u2019s Public Now Favors Nuclear Power\u00a0","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Replacing what worked with what sounded good is finally running up against reality. The days of indulging in fantasy energy futures are fading. There\u2019s so-called climate policy, and then there\u2019s the need to survive the winters and keep the lights on. Back to the future.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1136.png?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1136.png?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1136.png?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1136.png?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251326,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=251326","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":1},"title":"Germany: Invitation to the final shutdown","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"When the sun of knowledge slowly sets, even dwarfs of knowledge cast long shadows.\" Good night, Germany.","rel":"","context":"In \"Germany\"","block_context":{"text":"Germany","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=germany"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Schizophrenia-word-cloud-1251731764_2241x1342.webp?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Schizophrenia-word-cloud-1251731764_2241x1342.webp?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Schizophrenia-word-cloud-1251731764_2241x1342.webp?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Schizophrenia-word-cloud-1251731764_2241x1342.webp?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Schizophrenia-word-cloud-1251731764_2241x1342.webp?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":253150,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253150","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":2},"title":"Obituary","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"They have not been able to end their term as planned, but they have been struck down far too early on the basis of an instruction (in March 2011) by Mrs. Merkel and now by Mr. Chancellor Scholz and Minister Habeck. The death sentence was unanimously handed down by a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Chancellor Scholz\"","block_context":{"text":"Chancellor Scholz","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=chancellor-scholz"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00RIP-tombstone.jpeg?fit=1044%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00RIP-tombstone.jpeg?fit=1044%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00RIP-tombstone.jpeg?fit=1044%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00RIP-tombstone.jpeg?fit=1044%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":294177,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294177","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":3},"title":"Electricity import alarm in Germany: Low production, high costs and nuclear power imports","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nevertheless, there are also worrying developments. Germany produced almost ten percent less electricity overall in 2023 and became a net importer of electricity for the first time since 2002. Imports increased by 63 percent year-on-year, while exports fell by 24.7 percent.","rel":"","context":"In \"electricity prices\"","block_context":{"text":"electricity prices","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electricity-prices"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0sustainability-4-min.jpeg?fit=1200%2C692&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0sustainability-4-min.jpeg?fit=1200%2C692&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0sustainability-4-min.jpeg?fit=1200%2C692&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0sustainability-4-min.jpeg?fit=1200%2C692&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0sustainability-4-min.jpeg?fit=1200%2C692&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":281271,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281271","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":4},"title":"German Economics Ministry caught hiding assessment, ahead of nuclear phase-out, that keeping nuclear plants in operation would reduce emissions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant BY\u00a0EUGYPPIUS The news magazine\u00a0Cicero\u00a0has been locked in litigation with Robert Habeck\u2019s Ministry of Economic Affairs, seeking the release of documents that might shed light on\u00a0the April shut-down of the final operating nuclear power plants in Germany. Ministry officials have refused to cooperate, but yesterday a court in Berlin finally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0ISAR-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":220283,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=220283","url_meta":{"origin":255049,"position":5},"title":"Invitation to the “final shutdown of German nuclear power plants”","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Invitation to the final shutdown of German nuclear power plants","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1122.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1122.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1122.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1122.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1122.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=255049"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255056,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255049\/revisions\/255056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/255053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=255049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=255049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=255049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}