Theme 2

This chapter addresses the second of the themes considered in this report. This is regarded as an important consideration in that society’s need for electricity has to be satisfied. There is a choice to be made with respect to the balance of technologies that meet this need whilst recognising the constraints imposed by the need to avoid climate change. As will be seen in Chapter 4 and Appendix 4, radioactive waste disposal is a key factor in the public’s antipathy to nuclear energy. Diminishing the role of one technology because of a disadvantage (in the case of nuclear energy, the need to manage radioactive waste) without considering the equivalent disadvantages of any replacement will not lead to a rational decision. There are, of course, many other factors than just waste issues in making such a technology choice, but here waste is the focus. In practice, meeting the necessary CO2 reduction targets identified by organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be extremely challenging and both CCS and nuclear energy are likely to be needed in significant quantities.

Radioactive Waste in Perspective

Theme 2

The Outlook for Wastes Arising from Coal and from Nuclear Power Generation