Question: Do you think that our problems with climate change would be solved if we find a way of safely using and storing the waste of nuclear energy? I mean are there any disadvantages of nucler energy for the enviroment?

Tamsin Edwards answered on 15 Jan 2021:

Hello,

Great question. Most nuclear waste is not very radioactive so is not difficult to store safely. A small percentage is high-level waste which is very radioactive and takes a very long time to decay to safer levels. This has risks for the environment if it is not stored securely.

I think nuclear energy will continue to be an important part of our energy system for some decades, despite the challenges of storing high-level nuclear waste for such a long time, because of being a reliable and continuous source of low carbon energy.

But I also think it can’t be the only solution to climate change. That’s because we need a wide range of low carbon energy sources that work well in different parts of the world (geographically and socially). In many less developed countries, for example, solar power would be a clean, safe, cheap, reliable and local source of energy and a much better choice than nuclear power.

If we want to meet the temperature limits of the Paris Agreement (1.5 – 2 degrees C), we will also have to extract CO2 out of the atmosphere at a huge scale. One well-known example is planting trees. But this might not be enough – we predict that we will also need to use plants as biofuels, or even extract the CO2 from the air with chemical processes. Then we would store the CO2 in the ground.

That’s why I think nuclear energy can’t “fix” climate change alone, but can only be a part of the solution.

Tamsin