Good morning! Ladies and gentleman! Let me first describe to you a fantasy world in my mind.At night, a stream of cars are shuttling through the lighted City with nuclear energy, which allows the car to run continuously for 100 years without padding any fuel. Enjoy the fresh air, bright sky, inexhaustible energy, worry-free life. In the depletion of traditional energy, nuclear power has become one of the main energy supporting city operation.
However, this rosy picture was deeply broken by the Japanese nuclear incident in March 2011. People can not help but called a big question mark in the heart: nuclear power: blessing or disaster?
As we all know, nuclear energy is a kind of safe and clean energy, On the one hand, as a future substitute for fossil fuels,its greenhouse gas emissions almost to zero,and since the nuclear fuel is expended only as much as one-third coal, moreover , all fission energy released by 1 kilograms of uranium fission, roughly equivalent to 2500 tons of coal or 2,000 tons of oil combustion energy released, it is believed that nuclear power exactly more economical and durable. On the other hand,Compared with other new energy sources such as wind ` hydro `solar `bio-energy, nuclear power also could not be neglected in advantage. Not only can it grows extremely fast, but also be used on a large scale.Especially with the energy supply and demand contradiction hardly reconciled
and the environmental protection pressure over-burdened. Obviously , The use of nuclear energy has become an important guarantee for the energy strategy to achieve sustainable development and the construction of human society in future.
However, in March 2011, Fukushima Japan nuclear leak has sounded the alarm for human using nuclear power.Recalling the process of nuclear energy of developed by human,nuclear crisis, or continue to unfold.The Wim Wenders Kyle nuclear power plant incident in 1957 has been the UK's "political minefield", In 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear leaks into the anti-nuclear movement "assembly", and In 1986, the Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear accident led to a major disaster, making people "on the nuclear pale." According to data from the world nuclear association, there are 201 nuclear power plants in the whole world, besides, 443 nuclear power plant is running, not including plants under construction or design. Some people even regard twenty-first Century as "the nuclear century “.This high-density aggregation of nuclear power plants critically disturbs people’s mind:whether the Earth is becoming a time bomb, exploding the future of mankind in any time.
But please note,the history of the nuclear leakage tragedy mostly caused by design defects and deliberately concealment of
potential safety hazard, that is to say, the cardinal reason is human factor.With the rapid development of science and technology, nuclear power plant safety performance has greatly improved, what aspect we should pay more attention to is the loopholes in management.
I have always believed that human have two kinds of rational, one is technology, another is reflection.The Fukushima nuclear explosion may be nothing less than an improvement opportunity, because the concern on technology and capacity of their own precisely represent human’s prudent and wise. Nuclear power plant is an achievement of human technological development and humanity's achievements, but more rational, is that of rational reflection.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said: "nuclear energy should be as a last alternative energy", in a time of frustration, we should not stop the pace of progress, nuclear power is a benefit or destruction, rests in you, I, of all mankind hands, I do believe that the world in my mind will eventually become a reality!
Responding to Global Climate Change: The Potential Contribution of Nuclear Power The follow posistion paper was prepared by the Uranium Institute in 1998
The parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have adopted the long term aim of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous changes in the climate. This has to be done in a way which is consistent with continued economic and social development. The challenge for energy supply over the next 50 years, therefore, is how to meet the rapidly growing demand for energy services from a growing population while limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Nuclear power has the advantage of not producing carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. As such, it has the potential to play a vital role in meeting this challenge.
The contribution of nuclear power to electricity supplies has grown rapidly since the 1970s. As of May 1997, 436 power reactors were in operation in 32 countries. Nuclear power provided over 2300 TWh in 1996. This is about 17% of the world's total electricity, or 7% of total primary energy. This contribution avoids the emission of about 2300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, assuming it would otherwise be provided mainly by coal-fired plants. This represents nearly one-third of the CO2 presently emitted by power generation. Since electricity generation accounts for about 30% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions, total emissions would be about 10% higher if it were not for nuclear power.
This paper sets out the background against which the future role of all energy sources must be assessed, and looks at the contribution that nuclear power could make to balanced energy supply policies for responding to global climate change.
Population and energy demand growth
The world population continues to rise rapidly and is expected to reach at least 10 billion by 2050, nearly double the present population of 5.7 billion. Most of this increase will take place in developing countries, although some developed countries will also experience rising populations.
At present, per capita energy use varies enormously between developed and developing countries. As the developing countries continue to build up their industries and infrastructure, their energy use per capita will increase. Since their populations will also be growing, total energy demand of these countries will grow rapidly. Energy demand in developed countries will grow relatively slowly, but such countries will still need to ensure adequate energy supplies.
In developed countries with high per capita levels of energy use there may be considerable scope for energy conservation measures. Nevertheless, if all the world's people are to have adequate supplies of energy by the middle of the next century then the supply of energy services will clearly need to much more than double. Even allowing for major improvements in efficiency both in the conversion and end-use of energy, it would appear that a doubling of energy supply by 2050 is the least that can be expected consistent with an acceptable level of economic and social development.
Meeting energy demand while limiting carbon dioxide emissions
Industrialisation has been achieved in the developed countries of the world almost entirely through the exploitation of fossil fuels. It is no exaggeration to say that our present global civilisation is based on fossil fuels. The fundamental product of the combustion of fossil fuels is carbon dioxide; the only way to limit CO2 emissions is to limit the use of fossil fuels.
This can only be done by making a decisive shift away from our present overwhelming
dependence on fossil fuels, by making the fullest use practicable of existing and emerging non-fossil energy sources. Two such sources, hydro and nuclear, already make a significant contribution to energy supplies. Emerging non-fossil energy sources, commonly referred to collectively as renewables, include wind, wave, tidal, solar, geothermal, and biomass.
It is fortunate in this respect that nuclear and the various renewable sources will complement each other well in providing a balanced electricity supply system. Many of the renewables are by their nature variable or intermittent, or may be limited by geographical or other considerations. In contrast, nuclear power plants are best suited to steady baseload operation, to maximise their output over the year. They are concentrated energy sources, taking up little land area and able to supply densely populated urban areas.
The potential role of non-fossil energy sources
As discussed above, primary energy requirements are likely to at least double by 2050. What are the potential contributions which non-fossil energy sources could make by this time?
was first introduced in about 1960. Several major engineering companies from different parts of
the world are presently able to construct nuclear power plants
times its present output, or 14% of the assumed total energy supply by that time.
This implies a nuclear generating capacity of just over 1200 GWe in 2050, compared with about 340 GWe in 1995. In terms of number of reactors, it implies that there would be between 800 and 1000 reactors in operation, compared with about 430 at present (assuming the typical reactor size remains similar to that of reactors presently being built, of 1200 to 1500 MWe). Over a period of more than 50 years, this represents a modest growth in nuclear capacity.
begin. Large questions remain about their economic viability, although it can be expected that unit
If we make the optimistic assumption that all the renewables together (including hydro) might be
about the same level.
On the other hand, if we assumed that nuclear power was completely phased out by 2050, then
even if we make the same optimistic assumption about the contribution from renewables, carbon dioxide emissions from energy supply would increase by up to 40% from present levels. This illustrates the potentially vital role that nuclear power can make in limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases.