First of all, Great Britain itself. Together with investors, the government is allocating more than 500 million euros for the construction of small nuclear reactors.
Those reactors must generate enough energy to supply British households with electricity. In this way, it is possible to say goodbye to polluting fossil fuels. The installation of the reactors should be ready in four years.
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Nuclear energy: the pros and cons
Nuclear energy remains a subject of eternal discussion. We list the three main advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy.
Advantages
- Durability: The main advantage is that virtually no CO2 is released when nuclear energy is generated. This means that it is not harmful to nature, as is the case with coal-fired power stations.
- Availabilty: Other sustainable sources such as solar and wind energy are not available when it is cloudy or windless. With nuclear energy you are not dependent on wind or sun and you have a reliable source of energy all year round.
- Costs: from research It turns out that it is relatively cheap to generate nuclear energy. In addition, with the use of nuclear energy, we are less dependent on gas from abroad. Proponents therefore use the current high gas prices as an argument for nuclear energy.
Cons
- Radioactive waste: Nuclear energy generates radioactive waste. It is difficult to process and the radioactive waste remains harmful for a long time.
- Security risks: Serious accidents with nuclear power plants are rare, but everyone can still remember the disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. In the event of an explosion, the released radiation can cause major damage to public health and the environment.
- Time: It takes a relatively long time to build a nuclear power plant, about eight to ten years. Opponents say that it will take too long to combat global warming. Great Britain now wants to build several small nuclear reactors be able to generate nuclear energy in four years’ time.
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Big supporter: France
Not only the British are investing in nuclear energy, the French are also doing that. In fact, President Macron has announced to invest one billion euros in the construction of new nuclear power plants. And that while France is already Europe’s frontrunner with 56 nuclear power stations in this area.
Macron said on his appointment that he wanted to make France “less dependent on nuclear energy”. Today’s skyrocketing gas prices and climate targets have turned French tack.
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France now even wants to press ahead and, together with a group of ten EU countries (mainly from Central and Eastern Europe), has sent a burning letter to the European Commission. The country wants nuclear energy to be officially labeled as green energy.
In this way, nuclear energy could attract even more investors and more nuclear power plants could be built.
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Where is the Netherlands?
Initially, the Netherlands did not support the French lobby, but after criticism from the House of Representatives, our country joined the group of countries that advocate more nuclear energy.
There is currently one nuclear power station in the Netherlands (in Borssele in Zeeland), but a majority of the House of Representatives wants more use of nuclear energy in the Netherlands. However, no decision has yet been made on this. Outgoing State Secretary for Climate Yeşilgöz said: Radio 1 know that the next cabinet will have to take the plunge on the issue.
That the theme also caused fierce discussion in the Netherlands became apparent during the RTL debate, prior to the previous elections. In the video below, Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) collided hard with Mark Rutte (VVD) and Wopke Hoekstra (CDA).
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Big opponent: Germany
But not all European countries join the French lobby for more nuclear energy. Countries such as Germany, Denmark and Spain do not want nuclear energy to be labeled as green energy at all.
These countries point out that you can be left with hazardous nuclear waste for thousands of years. And the safety issue also comes to the fore.
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Where a country like France wants more, in Germany the nuclear power stations are all stopped. By the end of next year, the country wants to completely stop using nuclear energy.
The country is therefore mainly lobbying against the use of more nuclear energy in Europe. There is no consensus, but the European Commission is expected to make a statement next year on whether nuclear energy can really be regarded as green energy.
That judgment could have major consequences for the application and opportunities of nuclear energy in Europe.
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