By Gerd Rosenkranz
The deep divide over nuclear power is nearly as old as its commercial use. The early dreams of its proponents have faded, whereas the high risks have remained, as well as the danger of misuse by military interests. Terrorism has introduced dramatic, concrete threat. Global warming and the finite nature of fossil fuels do not dispel the major safety issues associated with nuclear power. And the "accident-proof" reactor has remained an unfulfilled promise now for decades.
Artificial warming of earth's atmosphere will surely pose one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. But there are less hazardous ways to deal with this problem than by using nuclear power. Nuclear power is not sustainable, because its fissile fuel materials are as limited as fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Moreover, its radioactive by-products must be isolated from the biosphere for periods of time that defy human imagination.
Nuclear energy is not only a high-risk technology in terms of safety, but also with respect to financial investment. Without state subsidies, it does not stand a chance in a market economy. Yet companies will continue to profit from nuclear energy under special, state-controlled conditions. Extending the licences of older reactors is an attractive option for operators – but disproportionately increases the risk of major accident. And there will always be regimes that view and promote civilian use of nuclear fission as a stepping stone to acquiring an atomic bomb. Moreover, as has been clear since 11 September 2001 at the latest, these vulnerable and very hazardous sites represent an additional target for unscrupulous and violent non-governmental forces. For this reason as well, nuclear power will continue to divide public opinion for as long as it remains in use.
Contents
Introduction
A reminder: The persistent risk of forgetting
Safety: The crucial issue for nuclear power
Suicide attacks: A new dimension of threat
Nuclear power plants: Radioactive targets in conventional warfare
Siamese twins: Civilian and military nuclear power applications
The open cycle: Leaks at the front and back
Nuclear climate protection: Naive proposals
Cheap nuclear power: If the state foots the bill
Conclusion: Renaissance of statements
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By Felix Chr. Matthes
Global warming constitutes one of the major challenges of the 21st century. The wide range of research and modelling in this field demonstrates more and more clearly that ambitious emission reductions will be required if the impact of global warming shall be limited to a magnitude which is still tolerable.
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By Steve Thomas
The severe challenge posed by the need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, especially in the electricity generation sector, has led to renewed interest in the construction of new nuclear power plants. These would initially replace the ageing stock of existing reactors, then meet electricity demand growth, and eventually replace some of the fossil-fired electricity generating plants. In the longer term, the promise is that a new generation of nuclear power plants could be used to manufacture hydrogen, which would replace the use of hydrocarbons in road vehicles.
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By Ottfried Nassauer
Any civilian nuclear fuel cycle and especially some of the elements thereof confront the world with certain security-related risks. Nuclear materials, nuclear know-how, and technology can be proliferated. Nuclear experts can travel or migrate. This is and has been well known for decades. History provides us with telling examples. The very existence of a wide range of specific precautionary measures such as nonproliferation policies, specific export controls, personnel screening, and reliability programs for employees are additional proof per se that proliferation risks are real.
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By Jürgen Kreusch, Wolfgang Neumann, Detlef Appel and Peter Diehl
The use of nuclear energy involves the work of several very different industrial plants. Each of these plant types has a specific hazardous potential. It starts with the dust in uranium mines, continues with potential and actual radioactive burdens in cases of normal operation, accidents for workers in the nuclear facilities or people living nearby, and ends with the possible contamination of groundwater in a final repository for radioactive waste.
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By Antony Froggatt
This report is based exclusively on Greenpeace International’s report “Nuclear Reactors Hazards, Ongoing Dangers of Operating Nuclear Technology in the 21st Century,” published in April 2005 (GREENPEACE 2005). The sections reproduced here look at the characteristics and inherent flaws of the main reactor designs in operation today; the second part assesses the risks associated with new designs, and discusses the “ageing” of operational reactors; and the third part looks at the terrorist threat to nuclear power.
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