Nuclear Energy
The following letter was sent to Chris Bowen, Federal Minister for Energy on 11 March 2024. I believe it speaks for itself in highlighting a disturbing aspect of nuclear energy that to this date has not been fully recognised and explored.
The
Honourable Chris Bowen
Dear
Sir,
I
note the Federal Opposition has adopted a pro-nuclear stance in its agenda and
wish to offer your ministry a powerful argument against the adoption of nuclear
power generation in this (or any other) country.
There
appears to exist a blind spot in so far that arguments about global temperature
rise are seemingly centred around reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to the
exclusion of all other sources that also give rise to warming.
There
is in fact a significant contributor to the problem that to this date has apparently
been completely overlooked.
Nuclear
power generation.
Please
consider:
Whereas
renewables such as solar, wind, & hydro etc, merely convert energy from one
form to another, thereby having nett zero effect on global warming, nuclear
power, unfortunately, does not possess this benign quality.
The
radioactive elements used in nuclear generation have in themselves no inherent store
of thermal content, but in the reaction process they produce vast quantities of
heat which, rather than alleviating global warming, actually contribute to the
problem.
The
amount of additional heat nuclear generators currently pump into the biosphere
can be readily obtained from reliable sources but can be summarised as follows:
- Global nuclear capacity presently stands at around 390
gigawatts (with several countries committed to increasing their capacity
in the future).
- Nuclear power station efficiency is on average around
35%.
- The power currently generated by nuclear is therefore
in the order of 1,200 gigawatts.
·
This results in nuclear power
generating 3.7 x 1018 joules per annum, or the equivalent of
enough energy to provide one billion average sized homes with power, all of
which ends up being added to the global warming problem.
I trust this argument may be of
assistance to your government in combatting a populist idea which, if adopted, would
contribute to a problem that threatens us all.
Yours
faithfully
Brian
Farber
Member,
Institution of Engineers Australia.