Nuclear energy post-Fukushima
Nuclear energy, developed during the 1960s, was initially presented as a universal panacea, offering countries access to energy independence by supplying vast amounts of power at a relatively low cost. The 1970s oil crises prompted numerous industrialized countries to move in this direction. Yet today, nuclear power accounts for just 5% of global primary energy production; France, which derives 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy, is an exception in the global energy scene.
This is because despite some advantages, which its advocates emphasize (in particular the absence of greenhouse gas emissions), nuclear energy also has two insurmountable drawbacks. The first is that it inevitably involves the production of highly dangerous radioactive waste – which has a lifespan of hundreds of thousands of years. No solution exists for this waste, which is currently stored close to stations that produce it. Some countries, including France, are looking into burying their waste, but this practice is controversial because no one can guarantee its safety over the waste’s lifespan.
The second drawback is the inherent risk of major accidents, which have occurred repeatedly– at Three Mile Island (United States) in 1979, Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986, and Fukushima (Japan) in 2011. The growing risk aversion of societies in developed countries has therefore led many countries to withdraw from – or schedule their withdrawal from – the nuclear sector (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, etc.). Without altogether banning nuclear energy, the United States has stopped building new nuclear power plants since 1979 – with a handful of exceptions. In Japan, the very pro-nuclear government has found it difficult to restart power plants closed since 2011 due to pressure from public opinion.
Today, the construction of new nuclear plants is concentrated in emerging countries, where nuclear energy retains its progressive image and risk aversion is low. Yet, ultimately, loss of competitiveness looks set to b the nail in the nuclear industry’s coffin: it is becoming cheaper to produce electricity from renewable energies (especially wind energy) than from nuclear sources.
Nuclear power, 1954-2018
Comment: Nuclear power stations are concentrated in North America, Europe, and Northeast Asia: The United States and France possess the most, ahead of Japan, Russia, and China. This form of energy provides most of the electricity in France, Belgium, Ukraine and Sweden. Chronologically, nuclear power stations in the North are old: current production levels were reached during the 1980s. They are newer or even undergoing construction in the Global South, and especially in China where over 20 reactors are being built, and to a lesser extent the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Although nuclear energy produces little greenhouse gas, it has many disadvantages: risk of health and environmental disasters, high costs (construction, maintenance, dismantling, etc.), and massive waste that is damaging, long-lasting, difficult to process, and so on.
- risk > Risk
- Risk refers to the perception and recognition of dangers and threats to individuals and to the environment. Having first appeared in academic and political thinking in the late 19th century, with the emergence of a welfare state whose role was to protect against the new social risks, the notion of risk developed in recent decades in the light of the globalization of trade and scientific and technological innovation. In his book Risk Society (1992), German sociologist Ulrich Beck analyzes the transition from “modern” societies built on the dogma of economic growth and technological progress to “post-modern” societies based on the production, management and regulation of risk. This is reflected in the rise of the precautionary principle, which seeks to anticipate the possible or probable consequences of natural and industrial disasters, epidemics or technological innovation, in order to protect the affected populations.
- developed countries > Developed Country
- At point 4 of his Inaugural Address of 1949, American President Harry S. Truman outlined a program of aid for “underdeveloped areas. This phrase refers to all the countries regarded as “lagging behind” in progress toward what thus becomes the model set by the developed, industrialized countries, which at that time had stronger growth and higher standards of living. The evolution of the terminology from underdeveloped to developing and developed countries has not altered the linear, evolutionist aspect of the overall vision. Nor has it in any way nuanced the homogenization and reification of the groups so described.
- public opinion > Public Opinion
- This term refers to all socially constructed representations expressed by the media, in surveys and by members of the elites, conveying what the population is said to think about current issues. Public opinion may also be expressed on international matters. Many actors, including NGOs, charities, companies and international organizations, refer to “international public opinion,” and in so doing give it a degree of social existence. However, transposition to the international level of a concept already contested at the national level is problematic. The rise of transnational activism and solidarity, expressed through protest movements and lobbies, does not necessarily express global public opinion.
- emerging countries > Emerging Country
- This term arose in the 1980s among economic and financial actors, who used the adjective “emerging” to describe markets where investment was risky but profitable. With its emphasis on growth and suggestion of rising movement, it reflects a linear, Western-centered understanding of development. As adopted and challenged by political actors, the label refers to the international, economic, political and/or diplomatic integration of some countries. It invites us to interrogate the way it is used both by actors who adopt it and those who reject it.
- renewable energies > Renewable energies
- Energy sources which are naturally renewable, making them inexhaustible on a human timescale, and which are not depleted by consumption. The main renewable energies used worldwide are biomass (though its renewability depends on how its production is managed), hydroelectricity, wind power, solar power and geothermal energy.