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The potential of fission nuclear power in resolving global climate change under the constraints of nuclear fuel resources and once-through fuel cycles

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  • Knapp, Vladimir
  • Pevec, Dubravko
  • Matijevic, Mario

Abstract

Nuclear fission is receiving new attention as a developed source of carbon-free energy. A much larger number of nuclear reactors would be needed for a major impact on carbon emission. The crucial question is whether it can be done without increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation. Specifically, can a larger nuclear share in world energy production, well above the present 6%, be achieved in the next few decades without adding the proliferation-sensitive technologies of reprocessing spent fuel and recycling plutonium to the problems of the unavoidable use of enrichment technology? The answer depends on the available uranium resources. We first looked for the maximum possible nuclear build-up in the 2025-2065 period under the constraints of the estimated uranium resources and the use of once-through nuclear fuel technology. Our results show that nuclear energy without reprocessing could reduce carbon emission by 39.6% of the total reduction needed to bring the WEO 2009 Reference Scenario prediction of total GHG emissions in 2065 to the level of the WEO 450 Scenario limiting global temperature increase to 2 °C. The less demanding strategy of the nuclear replacement of all non-CCS coal power plants retiring during the 2025-2065 period would reduce emission by 26.1%.

Suggested Citation

  • Knapp, Vladimir & Pevec, Dubravko & Matijevic, Mario, 2010. "The potential of fission nuclear power in resolving global climate change under the constraints of nuclear fuel resources and once-through fuel cycles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6793-6803, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:11:p:6793-6803
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. H. Nifenecker & D. Heuer, 2003. "Scenarios with an intensive contribution of nuclear energy to the world energy supply," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 19(1), pages 63-77.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriel, Sophie & Baschwitz, Anne & Mathonnière, Gilles & Fizaine, Florian & Eleouet, Tommy, 2013. "Building future nuclear power fleets: The available uranium resources constraint," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 458-469.
    2. Budzianowski, Wojciech Marcin, 2011. "Can ‘negative net CO2 emissions’ from decarbonised biogas-to-electricity contribute to solving Poland’s carbon capture and sequestration dilemmas?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 6318-6325.
    3. Knapp, Vladimir & Pevec, Dubravko, 2018. "Promises and limitations of nuclear fission energy in combating climate change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 94-99.
    4. Boris Crnobrnja & Krešimir Trontl & Dubravko Pevec & Mario Matijević, 2019. "Dynamics for Sustainable Nuclear Buildup Based on LWR and FBR Technologies and Its Impact on CO 2 Emission Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Muellner, Nikolaus & Arnold, Nikolaus & Gufler, Klaus & Kromp, Wolfgang & Renneberg, Wolfgang & Liebert, Wolfgang, 2021. "Nuclear energy - The solution to climate change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Luis Obregon & Cristhian Orozco & Josu Camargo & Jorge Duarte & Guillermo Valencia, 2019. "Research trend on Nuclear Energy from 2008 to 2018: A Bibliometric Analysis," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 542-551.

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