Nuclear powers role in environmental protection

Nuclear power's role in environmental protection | Nuclear techniques for environmental protection

Nuclear power can be an effective tool in reducing stress on the environment.

Environmental concerns are high on today's political agenda. People's awareness of the planet's precarious health has been reinforced by scientific warnings that quick, vigorous, and sustained action must be taken if we are to preserve the world in which we live.

Public perception and anxiety about acid rain, ozone layer depletion, and the greenhouse effect have been heightened in recent years. Enhanced awareness offers an unprecedented opportunity for members of the world community to make rational, informed decisions in the environmental debate.

Energy, in particular electricity generation, is fundamental to social and economic development. The use of hydropower, coal, oil and gas has helped to stimulate economic growth and raise the standards of living of people worldwide. All major forms of electricity generation, however, have some effect on the environment, frequently with starkly negative results. The burning of fossil fuels, scientists say, can contribute some 50 percent to the warming of the global atmosphere. Man's harnessing of these resources involves risks to the environment, as well as to people involved in activities associated with energy technologies.

The link between energy and the environment is undeniable. The world must therefore carefully examine its energy alternatives, and alternatives must be found to reduce the influence of fossile fuels on the environment, in parallel with conservation efforts. Nuclear energy can claim to be a clean, economical option for the generation of electricity and as one when looking at ways to help relieve stress on the environment.

Conclusions of the 14th Congress of the World Energy Conference in Montreal in late September, 1989 indicate that environmental effects of energy uses and the world's growing demand for electricity are prime reasons warranting a renewed emphasis on nuclear power.

Conservation is a significant, realistic, and necessary element in trying to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Conservation implies both a more efficient and more discriminating use of energy. But, as the former International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Director General Dr. Hans Blix has said, current plans of developing countries foresee a sharp increase in the use of fossil fuels. This means that if we are to succeed in stabilizing and indeed diminishing the greenhouse effect, industrialized countries must make the major effort. Nuclear power can be one effective tool in this vital endeavour.