Nuclear energy demand still high, despite fears from Fukushima

/ Graphic by Cho Sang-won

By Kang Hyun-kyung

The effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident still linger, even though five years have passed since the magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused three nuclear meltdowns that devastated northeastern Japan.

The damage to the nuclear power plants had contaminated the surrounding waters with radiation, alarming both domestic and foreign consumers about the safety of food from the area. Although researchers have shown that food from that part of Japan is now safe to consume, the fear remains.

The disaster, however, has not stopped the global demand for nuclear energy. In the face of mounting calls to reduce emissions following the global climate summit in France last year and the surging demand for electricity, some countries are building new nuclear reactors.

"At the moment, no alternative energy source is as effective as nuclear energy," Park Ji-young, a senior fellow at the private think tank Asan Institute for Public Studies in Seoul, said. The nuclear energy expert indicated that such perception, in part, has kept the global demand for nuclear energy alive, despite the lingering fears from the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The 2014 survey conducted by the institute found that nearly seven out of 10 Koreans are in favor of building nuclear plants for electricity while fewer than two out of 10 oppose it.

The global demand for nuclear energy has always been high, as many governments consider it a reasonable alternative to pricey fossil fuels. Industry experts call this nuclear energy boom the "Nuclear Renaissance."

Compared to fossil fuels, such as coal, nuclear energy is considered more effective and does not have emissions. For these reasons, many governments jumped on the nuclear power bandwagon and built nuclear power plants to produce electricity.

The global enthusiasm about nuclear energy, however, abruptly but temporarily disappeared after the March 2011 Fukushima accident. Together with Chernobyl, Fukushima is the worst nuclear accident in history, classified as a level 7, the highest classification on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event scale.

After the Fukushima disaster, pessimism about the future of nuclear power pervaded many governments and the public, with some experts declaring the disaster as marking the end of the Nuclear Renaissance.

However, Lee Young-joon, a senior fellow at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, said that the impact of the Fukushima accident on global demand for nuclear energy was overstated. He said the pessimism that resulted from the disaster was a storm in a teacup that affected only some Western European countries. Many developing countries, however, still consider nuclear energy as a key energy source.

"Skepticism about nuclear energy prevailed in some western European countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, following the Fukushima accident," he said. "Nuclear safety became an issue because the Fukushima accident informed the public about the dangers of nuclear reactors if not safely operated. But this skepticism had not affected other countries, particularly developing nations that had been preparing for nuclear reactors for a long time."

Following the nuclear accident in Japan, Germany decided to scrap its plan to build new nuclear reactors and decided to close existing nuclear power plants by 2022. Switzerland said it would phase out nuclear reactors by 2034.

According to Lee, determining whether Germany's decision was a policy shift or not requires a closer look into what had happened before the decision was made. Germany had originally planned to scrap nuclear reactors even before Chancellor Angela Merkel took office, he said. The Merkel government reversed the plan and promised to expand nuclear energy facilities, only to revert to the original plan following the Fukushima disaster.

"Considering what had happened in German politics before Merkel took office, I think Germany simply returned to its long-time policy position regarding nuclear energy," Lee said.

The World Nuclear Association report, however, found that electricity generation in 2012, a year after the Fukushima disaster, was at its lowest level since 1999, and globally, more nuclear power reactors have closed than opened in recent years.

But the statistics seem to contrast what is actually happening in developing countries. For example, to meet its soaring demand for electricity, China plans to build six to eight nuclear reactors annually, to have a total of 110 reactors by 2030. Similarly, India plans to build seven new nuclear reactors.

In the 1950s, nuclear reactor construction in the United States surged, and for almost three decades, demand for nuclear energy fluctuated. The situation changed, however, on March 28, 1979, with the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, during which reactor No. 2 of the nuclear power generating station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, malfunctioned. The accident is considered the worst in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history, although the radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on the power plant workers or residents in the area. Construction of nuclear reactors in the United States has since stalled.

The Chernobyl accident, which occurred at the nuclear power plant in what is now Ukraine in April 1986, had a huge impact on the global perception of nuclear energy. The accident killed 31 people and until today, radioactive releases at the sight still cause serious health conditions, such as cancers, among the residents.

The nightmare of Chernobyl was eventually forgotten, and in the 2000s, demand for nuclear energy began to climb back. Fossil fuels are the main emissions culprit, accounting for almost 25 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. Nuclear energy, however, does not have emissions and is more effective compared to fossil fuels. For example, 1 kilogram of coal can light a 100-watt bulb for only four days, whereas the same amount of uranium nuclear fuel can light the same bulb for 140 years.

Naturally, demand for nuclear energy soared. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in 2010, 441 nuclear reactors were operated in 31 countries. Nuclear energy accounted for nearly 15 percent of electricity production across the globe.

The global nuclear reactor market was considered a goldmine for some countries like France that have world-class nuclear technology. In 2009, Korea became a nuclear technology exporter following its successful bid to build four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates. Korea, which itself has 24 nuclear reactors that produce over 30 percent of the nation's electricity needs, is an emerging supplier in the global nuclear energy market.

Countries with the expertise and ability to build nuclear power plants saw the increasing demand for nuclear energy as an immense opportunity to participate in lucrative bidding to construct nuclear reactors overseas. For them, nuclear energy exports are a growth engine.

Nuclear energy expert Park said the idea of building nuclear reactors, though, became unpopular after the Fukushima disaster and the dilemma with spent fuels and toxic chemicals that contaminated the surrounding area. "For energy security, nuclear reactors are necessary. But from a long-term perspective, I think the government will need to come up with an alternative energy portfolio," she said.

Currently, renewable energy accounts for only 2 percent of energy sources in Korea.