New Year’s Day is often seen as a good time to pause in the daily routine and broaden your perspective to cover the year that just passed and the year that is to come. In the past year I have tried to cover as many facets of the global nuclear power sector as possible. There are so many things to keep track of that it has been a bit daunting at times.
TECHNICAL: Older reactors designs are being replaced by newer designs that are supposed to be more efficient, cheaper and safer. Whether or not they really are only time will tell. A new approach with small modular reactors is hailed as a better alternative to the big old power reactors but they will cost more per megawatt than existing reactors.
ENVIRONMENTAL: Mining uranium ore and extracting the uranium is horrible dirty process that causes environmental devastation. Accidents at nuclear reactors can release radioactivity into the environment. The reactor cooling water that is used in huge quantities is released back into the environment causing problems. Nuclear waste consists of toxic heavy metals that will be radioactive for thousands of years posing a major disposal problem. Nuclear power is being promoted as a carbon dioxide free source of energy which would help with climate change but the jury is still out.
HEALTH: Nuclear operators often try to quiet public fears by saying that the radioactivity that they release into the environment is below the level of natural radioactivity. It has been reported recently there is no safe level of radioactivity. Any radioactivity in the environment whether man-made or natural will contribute to birth defects, cancers and other diseases.
GOVERNMENTAL: National governments are obligated to regulate the nuclear industry within their borders but too often the agencies charged with oversight are also charged with promoting the national nuclear agency. This results in conflicts of interest and the regulatory agencies are often captured by the industry they are supposed to regulate. Many reactors are vulnerable to terrorist attacks and nuclear operators often fail security tests.
FINANCIAL: Nuclear power is only competitive with massive government subsidies, loan guaranties and direct contracts. Contracts with locked in price support for the generated electricity are disappearing and cheap natural gas is already shutting down nuclear reactors. Investors are increasingly skeptical.
TRADE: Nations with mature nuclear technology such as France, Russia, China and Japan are aggressively working to make nuclear technology exports a major part of their economic development. They are focused in particular on developing nations such as Bulgaria, Romania, Jordan, and Vietnam.
POLITICAL: Fears of nuclear proliferation have caused the U.N. Security Council to issue sanctions against countries that are building reactors and may be working toward nuclear weapons. International treaties have been drafted to work toward peaceful disarmament.
MILITARY: The U.S. and Russia may be cutting back on the total number of warhead that they have aimed at each other but both are embarking on programs to modernize their nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Recent reports indicate a serious problem with morale and competence of U.S. nuclear missile forces. India and Pakistan are trying to heal their political disagreements to reduce the possibility of nuclear war. Some think that Japan is working to change its constitution in order to develop an offensive nuclear force as a counterbalance to North Korea and China.
CRIME: There is a black market in nuclear technology which seeks to profit by avoiding expensive inspections and quality control. The Japanese crime syndicate Yakuza is heavily involved in the Japanese nuclear industry. Nuclear operators have been caught falsifying inspection reports, failing to adequately train staff, using substandard materials, failing to report important modifications to reactors and disregarding mandatory safety procedures.
I will continue to report on these and other nuclear issues in 2014. I sincerely hope that there are no major nuclear accidents in 2014 but I would not bet on it.
