Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present era, which has been a chronic problem that requires immediate and appropriate response. Average global temperatures are increasing, frequency of disasters, storms, and general effects of climate change are being seen. To prevent this, the world needs to move away from its dependence on fossil fuel and reduce its emission of greenhouse gases hugely. Structured within this fight against climate change is one of the world’s leading combatants of Nuclear Energy. Always under debates and controversy, nuclear power is one of the most promising clean, reliable and scalable solutions for climate change.

The main cause of climate change is the over emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Such emissions are mainly emitted during fossil use in industries like in burning of coal, oil and natural gas which contributes to over 70% emissions of greenhouse gases. It is therefore important to move to cleaner sources of energy in the effort to reverse this trend. Wind turbines, PV panels and hydropower systems are increasingly being adopted as part of renewable energy sources; however, they are incapable of providing the ever-increasing global energy demands due to their unpredictable nature. Here nuclear energy comes as another option given its low carbon image and constant power generation.

When nuclear energy is combined with renewable energy in the most effective way, we can transform the world faster to prevent climate change.

Nuclear energy is generated for nuclear fission which is splitting of an atomic nucleus into two smaller nuclei liberating a huge amount of energy. This energy is then used to produce electricity. Unlike the coals or gas power plants, nuclear reactors also do not release CO2 when they are in operation. Indeed, the relative total emission factor of nuclear energy is comparable to the wind and solar power and thus eliminates as one of the cleaner energy sources at its disposal today.

Indeed, one of the biggest strengths of nuclear energy compared to many renewable sources is often scalability. Nowadays, nuclear power plants can generate a continuous stream of electricity at any one time of the day, and the climate does not have any influence over it. This is an important point to factor in especially with the constraints of source such as solar, and wind energies which heavily rely on light from the sun and wind respectively. Nuclear energy can be permanent and stable and can indeed provide a more permanent frame for the power grid while providing the fluctuating random nature of renewables. Secure this synergy can help to make transition to low carbon energy system easier and avoid shortages or instabilities in energy supply.

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Over the past few years, campaigns have continued to be developed that provide greater safety and efficiency in nuclear power. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are currently considered as one of the most promising ones. These reactors are compact in design, affordable to produce and safer than the standard nuclear reactors in the market. A particular reason relates to the capability of constructing SMRs in locations where the construction of large plants is impossible, therefore expanding the applicability and flexibility of nuclear electricity. Further, new generation plants including Generation IV reactors are expected to provide higher efficiency and safety and can even burn waste produced by current reactors.

The other breakthrough technology is nuclear fusion that entails joining of atomic nuclei rather than fission, that has potential for almost infinite clean power supply. Albeit at a comparatively low level of technological development, the nuclear fusion has a potential of providing the mankind with plentiful and clean energy. And if the scientists find out how to tame the reaction, consumers will get an unprecedented source of power that will have a nearly zero carbon footprint.

A clean energy, being a policy, is not a single source of energy that can provide sustainable energy mix but a system that integrates clean sources.

However, nuclear energy is widely questioned, and people fear for safe utilization of nuclear energy, nuclear wastes and worst occurrence of the major disasters. Some the catastrophic accidents such as Chernobyl power plant in April 1986 and the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in March 2011 have poisoned the public view towards the nuclear power possibility. However, it is important to understand that the existing types of nuclear reactors possess complex safety system which does not allow such failures to occur. The improvements in the reactor designs, the high levels of safety procedures in use, and elevated quality of safety regulation make the modern nuclear power plants much safer than the previous generation plants.

Another important problem is the problem of nuclear waste. The nuclear reactors ionize certain materials which generate radioactive wastes that are hazardous to the environment if not disposed well. Besides this, development in technology and changes in the methods for disposing of waste have made it possible to contain nuclear waste for many years. Furthermore, present day research works for reprocessing and recycling of nuclear fuel could still cut the waste yield.

Another stumbling block for optimistic forecasting of nuclear power development is people’s opinion. Opponents of nuclear power are mostly from the regions that recall the disastrous effects of radiation and nuclear weapons. Thus, public awareness is something requiring effort to be made to better educate the public about the safeguards and environmental impact of modern nuclear technology. With no doubt, the exaggeration of information besides the interpretation of verified facts can assist in developing strong community trust in using nuclear energy as a solution in combating climate change.

The clean energy, being a policy, is not a single source of energy that can provide sustainable energy mix but a system that integrates clean sources. For the energy mix that can fulfill the global electricity demand, nuclear energy when used alongside the renewably generated power, means energy security without the possibility of greenhouse gases. When nuclear energy is combined with renewable energy in the most effective way, we can transform the world faster to prevent climate change.