The Big Debate in Europe: Is Nuclear Energy Green?

Last week on December 31st, the European Commission circulated a draft proposal to treat investments in nuclear energy and natural gas as climate-friendly or at par with investments in renewables with certain conditions. The proposal comes under the European Union's (EU) labelling system called taxonomy which sorts economic activities in the energy sector based on whether they are environmentally sustainable or not.

However, the move has once again divided the EU as certain countries led by Germany have slammed the Commission for its attempt to classify nuclear energy under renewables. It, however, didn't object to labelling natural gas as sustainable. France on the other hand generates nearly 70 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy and has pushed for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the green investment list in recent months, bringing EU's two heavyweights on a collision path.

What exactly is the proposal?

The proposal classifies investments in nuclear plants as green until 2045. However, investments to extend the life of existing nuclear plants will be classified as sustainable until 2040. Both of these classifications have certain conditions with them. The Nuclear Plants will have to show that they and their governments have well laid out plans to handle toxic nuclear waste and for the cost of decommissioning plants in future.

The Response From Political Leadership

Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark and Austria in a joint statement said, “The current decade will be crucial for our common path toward climate neutrality and an economic system that respects the limits of our planet.”

Austria’s climate minister Leonore Gewessler said the government would seek a legal opinion on suing the Commission if it implemented its proposal as recommended.

French President Emmanuel Macron batted for Nuclear Energy and said, “If we want to pay for our energy at reasonable rates and not depend on foreign countries, we must both continue to save energy and invest in the production of carbon-free energy on our soil.”

What describes Germany’s aversion to Nuclear Energy?

Nuclear energy was once seen as the future of Germany. In the 70s, a strong anti-nuclear movement emerged which, by the end of the 2000s was successful to bring an end to nuclear power. Former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel reversed this decision to some extent in the year 2010 but with Japan’s Fukushima Disaster in 2011, the movement gained momentum again and finally, she agreed to shut down all nuclear plants in Germany by 2022. Just days before the proposal, Germany shut down three of its six operational nuclear plants in a bid to achieve its 2022 target.

Why the pitch for Nuclear Energy?

The EU is aiming for net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. Efforts towards meeting this target have gained a lot more momentum after the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow last November. The dominant renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind are intermittent and most grids struggle to handle this. Hence, countries are looking to diversify their sources of renewable energy through which they can get a more reliable base-load power. Natural Gas and Nuclear Energy are seen by some to provide that reliable base-load. 

So, is Nuclear Energy green?

Nuclear power generation indeed emits no greenhouse gases as it generates power through fission. Fission is the process of splitting Uranium atoms to produce energy. The heat released during the process is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity without harmful by-products emitted by traditional fossil fuels. However, what it does produce is nuclear waste which must be sequestered for thousands of years before the radioactivity decays. This is precisely the reason for which it is criticised. However, the volumes involved are small and the draft proposal has ensured that governments devise proper plans and strategies to handle this waste.

Data from the Economist showed that European countries that produce nuclear power emit consistently lower levels of carbon dioxide than those that do not. Germany’s emissions per person were, on average, 43 per cent higher than those of countries with nuclear power between 2000 and 2019.

Also, Nuclear Energy’s land footprint is small as well. Compared to any other renewable source of energy, nuclear energy produces more electricity with minimal land usage. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, a wind farm requires 360 times more land area than a nuclear facility to produce 1000 megawatts (MW) of power.

On the other hand, natural gas which is also listed in the draft proposal emits carbon dioxide and methane on burning. Although, these emissions are half of what is produced on burning coal.

Nuclear Energy Scenario in India
Last month, in the Winter Session of the Parliament, Minister of State in the Department of Space and Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh informed about India’s indigenous three-stage nuclear power programme to provide long term energy security in a sustainable manner. India’s installed nuclear power capacity grew from 4760 MW to 6780 MW in the last seven years, according to a written reply from the Minister.

It will be difficult for Germany and its anti-nuclear allies to overturn the commission’s proposal as that would require a huge majority of the EU countries. However, the proposal has signalled the division in the bloc over means to meet their climate targets and how this culminates in the year ahead and what consequences will it have for EU’ energy transition drive will remain to be seen.