Overview

General considerations

In the US we now emit 11% more CO2 than in 1990; and at Kyoto we promised to reduce CO2 emissions to 8% below 1990 levels in ten years for a decrease of 19% below today's levels. If all the electricity now generated by nuclear power were to be generated by coal, CO2 emissions would increase by another 8%, making it more difficult to meet our commitment if we abandon nuclear power. About 30 years ago Dr. Glenn Seaborg, then Chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), testified to the Joint Committee of Atomic Energy of the US Congress (JCAE) that nuclear power would be comparatively benign environmentally (in particular, not producing appreciable CO2) and also would produce electricity at a modest cost (Seaborg, 1968). This optimism was nationwide and worldwide. Since that time opposition to nuclear power has arisen, and nuclear power at the present moment is not being considered by most governments in the world as an option to meet energy and environmental aims and desires. Our purpose is to show ways in which nuclear power could help the world, and in particular the US, to meet commitments made at Kyoto. Our purpose is also to examine the causes of the changes in the fortunes of nuclear energy and to discuss the extent to which nuclear power can provide electricity worldwide safely and economically.