Nuclear Power within Ever-Increasing Energy Demand - Dissertation Example

Since the dawn of the earliest civilizations, certain factors had played a pivotal role in any society’s modus operandi. The annual floods in the Nile Delta during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt, the slave labor in ancient Rome, the spice trade throughout the Age of Discovery, and the steam power during the Industrial Revolution – although being separated by considerable periods, all appear bridged by a common feature, which is their unique importance in the development of the respective society. Having started at some point in the mid-nineteenth century, the commercial drilling for petroleum not only drove the world economy into modern times but also became the mainspring of several major military conflicts during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The late 1890s, however, witnessed the discovery of a natural phenomenon, which have been given the name ‘radioactivity’ by Marie and Pierre Curie and later defined by Ernest Rutherford as a spontaneous event emitting alpha or beta particles from the atomic nuclei and creating a different element (World Nuclear Association, 2010). The exploration of this phenomenon had involved many scientists from different countries and produced breakthroughs – from Niels Bohr who advanced the understanding of the atomic structure, namely the way electrons are arranged around the nucleus, through Frederick Soddy’s discovery of the existence of isotopes, and that of the neutron by James Chadwick in 1932, to the first experimental confirmation of Albert Einstein’s concept of mass-energy equivalence carried out by Otto Frisch in 1939 (WNA, 2010). From that time on, the idea of harnessing the nuclear fission ranged the way from a tempting possibility to an alluring opportunity in both scientific laboratories and politicians’ cabinets, to reach – not surprisingly, given the turbulent times - its notorious first practical application in 1945, which is generally considered responsible for most of the poor image attributed to nuclear power ever since.

Following the second MAUD report in July 1941, however, and especially after the end of World War Two, namely Eisenhower’s 1953 program, ‘Atoms for Peace’, significant research efforts had been orientated towards the peaceful application of nuclear power (WNA, 2010). Besides the Cold War arms race, the 1950s marked vigorous growth of civil nuclear power on both sides of the Atlantic. A certain trend of stagnation and even decline occurred from the late 1970s to about 2005, insofar as few new reactors had been ordered, with increased capacity and output by nearly one third and 60 percent respectively, and a fairly constant share – 16 to 17 percent – of nuclear in the world-produced electricity (WNA, 2010). There are currently (as of January 2011) 442 nuclear power plants in operation and another 65 plants under construction in thirty countries around the world, with an installed net electric capacity of about 375 GW and 63 GW respectively (European Nuclear Society, 2011).

On the other hand, different scenarios indicate an increase in the total energy consumption worldwide between 148.5 and 153 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) for the period from 1990 to 2010 (Energy Information Administration, 2010), as against net world population growth of some 1.5 billion people for the same period (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). According to United Nations projections, the world population will reach a figure between 8.1 to 10.6 billion people - depending on fertility rates - by 2050 (an average increase of nearly 2.5 billion people), which combined with the burgeoning economic development of countries and regions, such as China, India, South America, etc., and despite the recent economic crisis, would inevitably imply a considerable increase in the global electricity/energy demand (United Nations, 2011; Holman, 2009). Given the aforesaid, as well as the simple fact that the modern way of life is virtually unthinkable without an unceasing supply of energy, the availability of cheap, safe, and reliable energy sources is crucial to the very survival of human civilization as we know it today. Against the background of fast-advancing climate change, to a degree reinforced by human activities like burning of oil, coal, etc., more or less dwindling reserves of fossil fuels, along with still unfolded potential, and certain limitations concerning electricity generation from renewable sources, nuclear power appears to become an increasingly reasonable option - at least according to many governments, scientists and professionals. That’s not exactly the case, however, when it comes to public opinion. According to a selection of reputable opinion polls conducted in the UK between 2004 and 2007, there is low support for nuclear energy, especially compared with the energy from renewable sources (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2007, p.3). In 2010, just 38 percent of the respondents to a Cardiff University/Ipsos MORI poll ‘believed the benefits of nuclear power outweighed the risks and only 39 percent trusted the industry to run the plants safely’ (Ecologist, 2010). The popular support for nuclear power in the US has dropped from 57 percent in 2008 (CBS News/New York Times Poll, 2008) to 43 percent, following the Fukushima incident, with 38 percent of the questioned saying that the benefits of nuclear power do not outweigh the risks (Cooper, M. and Sussman, D., 2011). The situation in Europe is even worse, as seen from a survey recently conducted by Benenson Strategy Group together with First International Resources, with 70 percent of the respondents opposing the idea of further developing nuclear power in Germany, 46 percent in France, and almost equal division of opinions in Sweden, Hungary, and Poland (Levtsun, O., 2011). Even though such a discrepancy between a true value and people’s perceptions of a thing is not unwonted, it’s also an issue to get addressed – especially under the conditions of democracy where public opinion might just as well tip the scales in favor, or against, any certain policy or governmental decision.