Nuclear Energy at COP21

COP 21 was a climate conference in Paris which occurred at the start of December 2015, in an aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the main goal of keeping global warming below 2^oC (COP21 2015). 196 countries attended this conference and have agreed in principle to limit the rise in global temperatures to below 2^oC by 2100 (IAEA 2015). As nuclear isn’t a renewable energy, it has normally not played a large roll in these type of talks, so did nuclear play a big role in COP 21?

COP21 Logo (COP21 2015)

In reality, nuclear energy was more of side-show compared to the main talking points. Even though the conference was held in France, which produces roughly 75% of its electricity through nuclear power, it just wasn’t a main focus (France 24 2015). Many groups state that Nuclear energy has to be part of the solution; it’s a mature technology, its barriers are more political and social than anything else, and is the second largest producer of low carbon-energy in the world behind hydro (Forbes 2015). The IEA projects that global nuclear energy production must increase from 400GW to 1000GW by 2050 to have any chance of reaching emission reduction goals, which also factors in wind and solar both producing 2000GW each by then (Forbes 2015).

So if nuclear appears to be so crucial, why wasn’t it discussed? A number of factors play a crucial role in this. Nuclear has high initial start-up costs, which puts it out of reach for many 3^rd world countries when there are cheaper alternatives available (rfi 2015). Another big factor is the negative image that nuclear power has, which is partly due to the fact the media repeatedly portrays old, incorrect facts, and the other being that when a nuclear disaster occurs, it’s quite a big event. However nuclear waste problems have a number of long term solutions, they have carbon emissions as low as wind, life-cycle costs as low as natural gas, and are statistically the safest major form of power production (Forbes 2015) (Adamantiades & Kessides 2009). It is the perceived danger, albeit it is not devoid of any, which prevents any real commitment to the sector.

Fatalities associated with full energy chains (Adamantiades & Kessides 2009)

So did nuclear play any role in COP21?! Well it did actually. Many countries such as China, India and Argentina, have included it in their mitigation portfolios (IAEA 2015). This means that Nuclear energy is seen as a low-carbon option and a number of countries have specifically chosen it to be a key part of its strategy going forward. With many seeing that renewables have not advanced enough in the past decade of investment, (wind, solar, geothermal and biomass only produce 2% of global electricity together) and the fact a number of them are not 24/7 sources of energy, perhaps more countries will turn to Nuclear as part of their strategy to commit to the agreement signed during COP21 (Forbes 2015) (Independent 2015)?