Minister Wiebes thinks it is “fine” that scientists criticize the study into nuclear energy that he sent to the Lower House on Wednesday. That research concluded that nuclear energy is no more expensive than energy from wind and sun.
That conclusion is at odds with an earlier investigation that Wiebes had ordered. From that study, from April this year, it turned out that nuclear energy is more expensive, except when nuclear power always has priority over the electricity grid and the government assumes a large part of the financial risks.
Wiebes does not find the opposite conclusions a problem. “Whenever you put scientists to work, they will question each other. I think that’s fine,” Wiebes told the ANP. “What comes out of it comes out and that is delicious food for other scientists to think about. So we continue.”
‘Omissions and calculation errors’
The spring study was conducted by the Berenschot and Kalavasta offices. John Kerkhoven, one of its authors, is extremely critical (.pdf) on the new report. “It’s full of omissions and big math errors,” he said in it NOS Radio 1 News.
According to Kerkhoven, the researchers are calculating costs for solar and wind energy that are too high and costs for nuclear energy that are too low. “We all know that the costs of renewable energy have fallen. The researchers calculate the costs for solar and wind energy in 2040 with prices that are higher than the price today. So the researchers assume that the price of solar panels and windmills go up instead of down. “
In nuclear energy, the opposite happens, according to Kerkhoven, through a wrong assumption. “They assume that a nuclear power plant is always on. But we know that solar and wind energy on the grid take precedence over other forms.” So the more renewable energy that is offered, the less room there is for nuclear energy. “We have calculated that by 2040 the nuclear power stations will only be able to run half the time. That actually means that you get nuclear power that is twice as expensive.”
He also calls it “a bit strange” that his report was checked (peer-reviewed) at the request of the ministry by, among others, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and that this has not been done for the latest research.
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