With new #nuclear stagnating and #renewables soaring – the sober reality is that nuclear #power is just too costly and too late amid crisis
Many governments around the world are under enormous pressure to expand funding for nuclear power, usually accompanied by claims that nuclear must or will play a key role in achieving climate change targets. However, the fact is that nuclear technology is in decline, and for good reason. Nuclear energy’s share of global electricity production has decreased from 17.5% (1996) to 9.2% (2023), largely due to the high costs of, and delays to, building and operating nuclear reactors.
Governments must resist pressures from the nuclear industry to fund this declining technology. These resources should be used to fund renewables and #energy storage or management options – these can and will deliver climate change objectives more abundantly, reliably, quickly, and cost-effectively.
New nuclear promotional pressure can be seen in three areas: funding for the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), financing new large reactors, and paying for life extension of existing reactors as they reach the end of their design life. These pressures on governments can be seen in five of the major nuclear-generating countries: the USA, France, Canada, Japan, and the UK.
