Nuclear Power for Mitigation of Climate Change

Climate change is at present the greatest environmental problem in the world. The world has already experienced its hazardous effects and researchers have opined that it will go worse in future. A climate emergency has been declared by multiple countries around the world, particularly the small island countries as they fear to be submerged by rising sea level. Global warming is the cause of climate change and the cause of global warming are the emissions of green house gases to the atmosphere. Among green house gases the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) is more. The main source of CO2 is thermal power plants where it is emitted due to combustion of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum oil and natural gas. Within the energy landscape, electricity accounts for a significant 36% of CO2 emissions.

Growth in the world’s population and economy, coupled with rapid urbanisation, will result in a substantial increase in energy demand over the coming years. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the world’s population will grow from 7.8 billion in 2020 to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. Electricity demand is increasing about twice as fast as overall energy use and is likely to rise by more than half to 2040.

There is a clear need for new generating capacity around the world, both to replace old fossil fuel units, especially coal-fired ones, which emit a lot of carbon dioxide, and to meet increased demand for electricity in many countries. In 2020, 61% of electricity was generated from the burning of fossil fuels. Despite the strong support for, and growth in, intermittent renewable electricity sources in recent years, the fossil fuel contribution to power generation has not changed significantly in the last 15 years or so. The established capacity of thermal power plants in the world is about 60%, but its share in energy generation is more than 80%. Because power generation can not be done continuously from renewable sources like solar and wind power plants as they are dependent on nature.

In that regard, nuclear power is widely recognized as being a necessary part of the world’s future energy portfolio. If we are to achieve our environmental and energy security targets, we will need much more nuclear power than we have today. Nuclear power plants produce no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and over the course of its life-cycle, nuclear power produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per unit of electricity as wind, and one-third of the emissions per unit of electricity when compared with solar.

The International Energy Agency publishes annual scenarios related to energy. In its World Energy Outlook 2022 there is an ambitious ‘Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario’ (NZE), which “maps out a way to achieve a 1.5°C stabilisation in the rise in global average temperatures, alongside universal access to modern energy by 2030.” The NZE in WEO 2022 sees nuclear capacity increase to 871 GW by 2050.  The World Nuclear Association Harmony programme and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenario both indicate that nuclear capacity needs to rise to approximately 1,250 GW by 2050 to support a realistic and just transition.

A number of countries – such as Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States – have explicitly stated that nuclear power will play an important role in reducing their national emissions in the future. 

Across 31 countries, there are 440 nuclear power reactors in operation totaling 391,700 MW in installed capacity, which equates to 10 per cent of the world’s total electricity and one quarter of its low carbon supply. Further 61 reactors with total capacity of 64,072 MW are under construction.

Construction of new nuclear plants has recently seen a surge in many parts of the world, most notably in China where nuclear capacity grew by more than 400% between 2010 and 2020, with an additional 16 GW of capacity set to be connected to the grid in the next few years. South Korea, India and Japan also have planned to invest heavily on nuclear power. This has been propelled by advancer reactor design and robust safety measures.  

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi emphasized the role of nuclear power to mitigate climate change and how more countries are expressing interest in nuclear energy, particularly through new avenues, like small modular reactors. “Nuclear energy is safer than it has ever been, and it is safer than almost any other source of energy,” he added, citing research that puts nuclear energy at about the level of wind and solar when measured in fatalities per unit of energy produced.

In India, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is presently operating 23 commercial nuclear power reactors with an installed capacity of 7,480 MW. NPCIL has 9 more reactors under construction with a total capacity of 7,500 MW. In addition, the Government has approved for establishment of 10 more reactors with total capacity of 7,000 MW.

Operating Units are:

• Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2 x 160 MW)
• Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units-3&4 (2 x 540 MW)
• Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Units-1to 6 (1 x 100 MW, 2 x 200 MW and 4 x 220 MW)
• Madras Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2 x 220 MW)
• Narora Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2 x 220 MW)
• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2 x 220 MW)
• Kaiga Generating Station Unit-1 to 4 (4 x 220 MW)
• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station Unit-1&2 (2 x 1000 MW)
• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station Unit-3 (700 MW) 

The units under construction are: 

• Kakrapar Atomic Power Project Unit-4 (700 MW)
• Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Units-7&8 (2 x 700 MW)
• Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidhyut Pariyojna Units-1&2 (2 x 700 MW“)
• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Unit-3&4 (2 x 1000 MW)
• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Unit-5&6 (2 x 1000 MW)

In addition to these, Government of India have accorded administrative approval and financial sanction for ten PHWR units to be set up with unit size of 700 MW each at Kaiga Unit-5&6 (Kaiga, Karnataka), Haryana Anu Vidhyut Pariyojna Unit-3&4 (Gorakhpur, Haryana), Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project Unit 1&2 (Chutka, Madhya Pradesh) and Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Unit-1 to 4 (Mahi Banswara, Rajasthan). Pre-project activities are in progress in these projects. India recently has spelt out plans to generate 22 GW power through nuclear energy to achieve Net Zero emissions for addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

In a world grappling with climate and energy concerns, nuclear power is a robust solution. Its low-carbon and reliability aids emission reduction and stable energy supply. In the complex energy landscape, nuclear energy’s resurgence showcases human determination for a greener tomorrow.