In this paper I’ve presented an analysis which shows that nuclear power plants are economically not sustainable in a capitalistic society. Thus, as the historic data for the U.S. shows, during the heavy construction phase in the 70’s and 80’s almost half of the ca. 200 applied for nuclear power plants never got completed.
\nFurther I’ve briefly shown that probably even the often praised capability to reduce GHG emission with nuclear power may be very much exaggerated since the production of nuclear fuel is dependend on the uranium content on the ore and the lower the uranium content the higher the energy needed to extract it.
\nLastly I’ve presented some general points regarding the social non-sustainability of nuclear power.<\/p>\n
Brook et al. mention in [14<\/a>] six conditions for the economic viability of nuclear power. Finally nuclear power advocates put all hope into new technologies. However, regarding so called fast breeders Cochran et al. write in [58<\/a>]: „After six decades and the expenditure of the equivalent of about $100 billion, the promise of breeder reactors remains largely unfulfilled“. They give examples of how the fast breeder programs in most states were abandoned or are (still) not promising. The same is true for Thorium reactors [59<\/a>].<\/p>\n Finally to finish this report I’d like to mention some applications that actually make the utilization of nuclear power technology, especially reactors, necessary without an alternative. First and foremost these are nuclear weapons. If a country desires these, it needs the relevant technology. However, after a more or less two decade long trial and error periode, following the inauguration of nuclear power plants in the late 60’s, this technology was rejected by the market as means of producing electricity in an economically sustainable way. Or as Grubler et al. put it in [23<\/a>]:<\/p>\n [\u2026] [W]hile the nuclear industry is often quick to point at public opposition and regulatory uncertainty as reasons for real cost escalation, it may be more productive to start asking whether these trends are not intrinsic to the very nature of the technology itself: large-scale, lumpy, and requiring a formidable ability to manage complexity in both construction and operation. These intrinsic characteristics of the technology limit essentially all classical mechanisms of cost improvements–standardization, large series, and a large number of quasi-identical experiences that can lead to technological learning and ultimate cost reductions [\u2026] i.e., economies of scale.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 4 Conclusion In this paper I’ve presented an analysis which shows that nuclear power plants are economically not sustainable in a capitalistic society. Thus, as the historic data for the U.S. shows, during the heavy construction phase in the 70’s and 80’s almost half of the ca. 200 applied for nuclear power plants never got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7919"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7922,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions\/7922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soeren-in-norwegen.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe first condition (no unfair subsidies for renewable energy technologies) is discussed in section 3.1.
\nThe second condition, that standardization will lower the costs, was shown not to be true in the case of the french nuclear fleet [23<\/a>].
\nThe third condition, that a long term governmental energy policy is needed, can be met just with wonder. This has in the U.S. always been the case. Starting with the famous „Atoms for Peace“-speech of President Eisenhower [55<\/a>], vigorously advocating for legislation in favor of nuclear power in the 2000’s32<\/sup><\/a> [38<\/a>, 56<\/a>], and lasting support until today [18<\/a>]. Nonetheless seems nuclear power not to attract the interest of profit oriented investors.
\nTaking the devolpment of renewable energy technology into account33<\/sup><\/a>, the fourth condition34<\/sup><\/a> may actually work to the disadvantage of nuclear power.
\nThe fifth condition, that the sitings of nuclear power plants have to be carefully considered to avoid „areas most prone to severe natural hazards“ [14<\/a>] could become a source for terrible mistakes due to the fact that climate change will lead to changing conditions in the landscape [57<\/a>].35<\/sup><\/a>
\nFinally the sixth condition36<\/sup><\/a> may also prove unfavourable for nuclear power, considering the still looming waste problem and the costs in case of a large scale desaster.<\/p>\n
\nSecondly, can the high neutron flux required for modern material research just be produced in nuclear reactors.
\nThirdly, the radioactive isotopes, mainly molybdenum-99, needed in medicine are also produced in nuclear reactors. [60<\/a>]
\nAnd the final reason I’d like to give here for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants is national pride and self-concept, as it was the case for France after the 2nd World War [61<\/a>].
\nAll of these application do not need to subdue to so called market mechanisms.<\/p>\n
\nFootnotes<\/h4>\n
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\nReferences<\/h4>\n
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