Nuclear Energy

Wylfa could be suitable for new large-scale reactors or small modular reactors.

The UK government is in talks to take control of a key site in Wales earmarked for a nuclear power station as part of wider plans to roll out new reactors as part of the nation’s biggest expansion in nuclear power for 70 years.

According to press reports, state-owned Great British Nuclear is in early-stage discussions with Hitachi, owner of the land in Wylfa in Anglesey, an island off north Wales, to buy the site with a view to finding a new private sector partner to develop a station there.

The future of the site has been uncertain since Hitachi abandoned plans to build a new reactor there in January 2019 after failing to strike a financial agreement with the British government.

The Japanese industrial group eventually wrote off £2.1bn (€2.4bn, $2.6bn) on the project. It also stopped work at a second site in Oldbury, South Gloucestershire.

The Wylfa site has been valued at £200m, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the talks between Hitachi and GBN.

Wylfa is home to two gas-cooled Magnox plants that were permanently shut down in 2012 and 2015 and is seen as suitable site for large reactors or a small modular reactors (SMRs).

The London-based Nuclear Industry Association welcomed the reports about Wylfa. Chief executive Tom Greatrex called the talks a welcome step in making a new project at Wylfa a reality.

‘One Of The Very Best Sites For Nuclear’

“It’s one of the very best sites for new nuclear in the UK and the success of ramping up nuclear to the levels needed for energy security and net zero rests a great deal on whether we develop at Wylfa.”

In January, the UK government set out plans for what it claimed will be Britain’s biggest nuclear power expansion in 70 years with the possible construction of about 11 new reactors by 2050 – enough to meet a quarter of the national electricity demand.

Ministers published a roadmap that recommitted the government to building a fleet of nuclear reactors capable of producing 24 GW by 2050 – an increase from around 5.8 GW today.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho said a nuclear revival was essential to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost energy security, especially after the crisis in gas supplies that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Companies and institutions in the UK nuclear industry on Monday (12 February) said they were launching a recruitment drive to ensure there were enough workers to sustain the government’s push.

The campaign, Destination Nuclear, said the number of employees needed to double in size over the next 20 years to support the possible quadrupling of output.

There are about 64,500 workers across the UK civil nuclear supply chain, plus thousands more in defence, according to the Nuclear Industry Association, a lobby group.

It has support from the French state-owned energy company EDF, engineers such as Atkins, Jacobs and Laing O’Rourke, as well as companies involved in the UK’s nuclear weapons and submarines programmes including Babcock, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems.

Background: Falling Output, No New Plants

The share of nuclear energy in the UK’s electricity generation has fallen to around 15% from 27% in the 1990s as older plants have been decommissioned and no new plants have come online.

Since 2000, the UK has seen permanent reactor shutdowns at Bradwell, Calder Hall, Hinkley Point A, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston, Oldbury, Sizewell, Chapelcross, Dungeness and Wylfa. The last unit to go offline was Hinkley Point B-1 in August 2022.

The government and developer EDF Energy started a process last year to bring private equity investment into the planned Sizewell C project, with EDF saying a sustainable commercial model is needed for a final investment decision.

EDF Energy is planning to extend the life of four nuclear power stations in the UK and invest £1.3bn in its nuclear fleet as it aims to maintain UK nuclear output at current levels until at least 2026.

The French energy company said it would make a decision on whether to extend the life of the four advanced gas-cooled reactor stations – Torness, Heysham A and B, and Hartlepool A – by the end of the year. This would require regulatory approval.

EDF Energy operates all of Britain’s five nuclear power stations that generate electricity. A further three are defuelling (Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B and Dungeness B), the first stage of decommissioning. The only new commercial reactors under construction in the country are two EPRs at Hinkley Point C.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/First-European-made-ITER-vessel-sector-awaits-ship

The first of five vacuum vessel sectors under the responsibility of Fusion for Energy (F4E) - the Iter Organisation's European domestic agency - is undergoing factory acceptance tests. The component has already passed leak testing and its dimensions will now be checked.

ITER's plasma chamber, or vacuum vessel, houses the fusion reactions and acts as a first safety containment barrier. With an interior volume of 1400 cubic metres, it will be formed from nine wedge-shaped steel sectors that measure more than 14 metres in height and weigh 440 tonnes. The ITER vacuum vessel, once assembled, will have an outer diameter of 19.4 metres, a height of 11.4 metres, and weigh approximately 5200 tonnes. With the subsequent installation of in-vessel components such as the blanket and the divertor, the vacuum vessel will weigh 8500 tonnes.

The fabrication of the vacuum vessel sectors is shared between Europe (5 sectors) and Korea (4 sectors). Vacuum vessel sector No.6, at the centre of the assembly, and associated thermal shielding has already been manufactured and delivered by the Korean Domestic Agency.

The first sector, No 5, being supplied by Europe has now been manufactured at the Westinghouse/Mangiarotti facility in Monfalcone, Italy, and is undergoing factory acceptance tests prior to being shipped to the construction site.

"Years of teamwork in developing the procurement strategy, agreeing on the design, the technical specifications, and following up its manufacturing, have come down to this make-or-break moment in the lifecycle of the component," F4E said. "The valuable lessons learnt from sectors delivered by Korea, and the knowledge accumulated from the collaboration between F4E and the AMW consortium (Ansaldo Nucleare, Mangiarotti and Walter Tosto) have fed into this exercise."

The factory acceptance tests consist of hydraulic and dimensional checks.

The hydraulic testing of sector No 5 was successfully completed on 16 January. These tests - using nitrogen and helium - examined how the component responds to pressure and vacuum. Their objective is to make sure that there are no leaks in the structure. "Checking these parameters is of paramount importance because the fusion reaction requires an environment which is completely tight," F4E noted. "Furthermore, the vacuum vessel is classified as a nuclear component that needs to comply with the strict prerequisites set by the French Nuclear Safety Authority." It said the results were "solid proof that the welding, assembly and manufacturing met the highest standards".

"The successful outcome of these operations results from years of cooperation between F4E, ITER Organisation and AMW," said Joan Caixas, F4E Assembly Project Manager. "The results give us a lot of confidence for the next tests and ultimately for the delivery of Europe's first sector."

The dimensional tests - which will require more time given the volume of the component - essentially measure with accuracy the component using sophisticated probes, lasers, and other tooling to scan the surface, spot any deformations, etc.

Once the factory acceptance tests are completed, the component will be transported to the ITER construction site. According to the current schedule, the component is expected to depart from Mangiarotti later in the year. It will leave on a boat and be shipped to the port of Marseille. From there, it will be loaded onto a large track, and by applying the protocol of a heavy exceptional convoy, it will be transported to the ITER site.

ITER is a major international project to build a tokamak fusion device in Cadarache, France, designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy. The goal of ITER is to operate at 500 MW (for at least 400 seconds continuously) with 50 MW of plasma heating power input. It appears that an additional 300 MWe of electricity input may be required in operation. No electricity will be generated at ITER.

Thirty-five nations are collaborating to build ITER - the European Union is contributing almost half of the cost of its construction, while the other six members (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the USA) are contributing equally to the rest. Construction began in 2010 and the original 2018 first plasma target date was put back to 2025 by the ITER council in 2016. In June last year, the ITER Organisation was expected to reveal a revised timeline for the project but instead put back by a year an announcement on an updated timeline.

• Source: https://www.ad.nl/politiek/jongeren-positief-over-kernenergie-op-klimaattop-nieuwe-centrale-bouwen-vijfenhalf-jaar-is-genoeg~a073d0ba/
• Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/BirQV

Stap voor stap wurmt de nucleaire sector zich op het podium van de VN-klimaatconferentie. Nadat kernenergie lange tijd in het verdomhoekje zat, en wind en zon als enige oplossing werden gepropageerd, begint het atoom in Dubai feller te stralen.

Dit weekend sloegen 22 landen - waaronder Nederland, Frankrijk, de VS en Polen - de handen ineen voor een verklaring ten faveure van atoomstroom. Tussen nu en 2050 moet de hoeveelheid kernenergie verdrievoudigen, stelt de Triple Nuclear Power-verklaring. Maar niet alleen politici in Dubai, ook jongeren ijveren op de top voor de nucleaire optie.

,,Niets is onmogelijk”, jubelt de Arabische studente Ghayah Alharmoodi. Ze is tenger, 20 jaar oud en aanstekelijk vrolijk. Onder haar gewaad draagt ze een Nuclear for Climate-T-shirt. Ze is overtuigd dat zelfs het Midden-Oosten, al bijna honderd jaar de olieput van de wereld, een draai kan maken naar nucleaire energie.

Eerste in Midden-Oosten

,,Als Verenigde Arabische Emiraten geven wij het voorbeeld in de regio”, zegt de in Dubai geboren vrouw. ,,Nog maar één jaar blokken en dan wil ik aan de slag in de nieuwe Barakah-kerncentrales.” Sinds 2020 nam de golfstaat drie atoomcentrales in bedrijf - de eerste in de Arabische wereld - en een vierde volgt spoedig.

Alharmoodi is wel gewend aan metamorfoses. Ze zag haar geboortestad Dubai in twee decennia veranderen van wijken met zandwegen tot indrukwekkende metropool met het hoogste gebouw ter wereld. Een kwart van alle benodigde energie in de Emiraten komt straks uit het Barakah-complex. ,,In de Emiraten zien wij vooral de voordelen. En we geloven in onze leiders.”

Om fossiele brandstoffen te vervangen zijn wereldwijd veel meer kerncentrales nodig. Vijftig landen tonen interesse om te bouwen, zo schat King Lee van de World Nuclear Association (een koepelorganisatie van de industrie). ,,In 26 landen is de constructie, of de voorbereiding daarvan, daadwerkelijk in volle gang”, verklaart Lee in het paviljoen Net Zero Nuclear.

Maar duurt de bouw van die centrales niet vaak erg lang? ,,Als je kijkt naar wat China doet, dan is vijfenhalf jaar genoeg om een kerncentrale uit de grond te stampen”, antwoordt Lee. ,,Ze bouwen op tijd en binnen budget, net zoals de Koreanen hier hebben gedaan in de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten.”

Energiezekerheid

Ruim vijf jaar is aanmerkelijk korter dan de acht jaar waarmee Den Haag rekent voor de bouw van twee nieuwe centrales, mogelijk bij Borssele. Lee knikt. ,,Het kost tijd om de supply chain in Europa weer op te zetten. Die heb je nodig, net als bij elektrische auto’s of windturbines. En jullie raakten een deel van je kennis kwijt. In de jaren 70 en 80 zijn veel kerncentrales gebouwd, als reactie op de energiecrisis. Die energiezekerheid is nu, naast klimaat, opnieuw een reden om erin te stappen.”

De verklaring van de 22 landen, getekend in aanwezigheid van de Franse president Macron, benadrukt dat een kerncentrale relatief weinig oppervlakte behoeft. En dat kernstroom de stabiliserende factor kan zijn in een energiemix met fluctuerende zon en wind. Nucleair afschakelen, zoals Duitsland en België doen, maakt de weg naar een klimaatneutrale economie juist duurder.

,,Het gaat niet alleen om stroom voor stedelijke gebieden”, zegt de jonge kerngeleerde Amanda Nompumelelo uit Zuid-Afrika. ,,Het is ook een oplossing voor afgelegen mijnbouwprojecten.” Ze is daarom blij met het initiatieven van de 22 landen. Bijvoorbeeld de oproep aan de Wereldbank en andere financiële instellingen om kernstroom, ook voor ontwikkelingslanden, als optie te ondersteunen.

Polen werkt zelfs op drie fronten aan kernenergie. ,,In 2033 moet de eerste van drie grote kerncentrales draaien”, zegt de Poolse Jadwiga Najder, die voor de vijfde keer een klimaattop bijwoont. ,,Verder hebben chemische bedrijven interesse in de nieuwe kleine reactoren. En ten derde ontwikkelt het Poolse instituut NCBJ een reactor die zeer hoge warmte levert aan de industrie. We hebben ook geen keuze: zo’n 80 procent van onze stroom komt nu uit kolen.”

Antipathie verdwijnt

Toen Najder haar eerste klimaattop beleefde in Katowice in 2018, en ze ook de positieve kanten van kernenergie probeerde uit te dragen, was lang niet iedereen daarvan gediend. ,,We hebben een dikke huid moeten kweken. Er zit veel emotie bij tegenstanders.” Maar ze ziet die antipathie langzamerhand verdwijnen. ,,Kernenergie is niet slechts leuk om te hebben, het is essentieel om de doelen van Parijs te halen.”

Op de nucleaire faculteit van de Universiteit van Sharjah (vlakbij Dubai) waar Ghayah Alharmoodi studeert, is bijna 70 procent vrouw. ,,Het is de enige universiteit in de regio waar vrouwen deze richting kunnen volgen”, vertelt ze. Ze vindt het lastig zich de soms felle discussie over kernenergie in Europa voor te stellen. ,,Ik denk dat kernenergie een enorme stap is naar een duurzame toekomst.”

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Japan-and-EU-mark-first-plasma-from-JT-60SA-fusion

The successful operation of the Japan Torus-60 Super Advanced (JT-60SA) fusion device, the world's largest operational superconducting tokamak, has been marked by Japan and the European Union in a ceremony to inaugurate the facility.

Work on the device began in 2007 and resulted from the Broader Approach Agreement between the European Union and Japan, a scientific collaboration to promote know-how in fusion through various projects. Construction at Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology in Naka was completed in 2020 with first plasma in October this year. The total cost is estimated to have been EUR560 million (USD608 million).

At the ceremony European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, pictured above left, Japan’s Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Masahito Moriyama, pictured centre, and Japan’s Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, Sanae Takaichi, pictured right, plus other senior politicians and industry representatives were able to witness a plasma operation from the control room.

Fusion for Energy managed the EU's contribution to the project including fabrication of components by Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Its director Marc Lachaise said: "What happens here today will matter tomorrow for the contribution of fusion in a carbon-free energy mix. JT-60SA is key to the international fusion roadmap because it provides a one-of-a-kind possibility to learn, operate this unique fusion device and to share that valuable knowledge with ITER. Also, it allows European research laboratories and industry, jointly with Japan, to work hand-in-hand developing a meaningful partnership."

The JT-60SA is a doughnut-shaped (toroidal) device known as a tokamak. It operates with hydrogen, with the gas being heated to 200 million degrees Celsius to become plasma and then confined for about 100 seconds using the powerful magnet system formed by 28 superconducting coils.

It is the closest facility in design to the giant international ITER fusion project under construction in France, but at about 13.7 metres across and 15.4 metres high, it is not as big. One of the 2600-tonne facility's roles will be to perform modelling to help scientists prepare as much as possible for the beginning of ITER's operation.

A total of 500 researchers from Europe and Japan have been involved, and more than 70 suppliers have contributed to the manufacturing of its components. With manufacturing lessons learned for ITER as well as helping train a new generation of fusion experts, it is also intended that the facility will help scientists design future fusion power plants.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Full-government-support-for-Niger-uranium-project

The Government of Niger has confirmed its "full support" for Global Atomic Corporation's Dasa uranium project, the company has said. The project is still pencilled in to make its first yellowcake deliveries in 2025 and remains unimpaired by a recent US decision to put a hold on US Development Bank financing following the coup that took place in Niger earlier this year.

The US State Department on 10 October officially designated the events in the African republic at the end of July 2023 as a coup d’état. Most US assistance to the government of Niger, with the exception of humanitarian, food and health assistance, has now been suspended pending action by Niger to return to "democratic governance". This includes US Development Bank financing.

Toronto-headquartered Global Atomic, which is developing the high-grade uranium deposit 105km south of the established uranium mining town of Arlit, said it has been "engaged in contingency planning with parties interested in non-dilutive financing options at the operating level" from groups interested in buying uranium from the mine.

Existing uranium offtake agreements with utilities are unaffected by the State Department decision, the company said, and the company has "no immediate need to finance" as it has sufficient cash on hand for the next 12 months. The company recently announced its third offtake agreement - for the sale of up to 3.5 million pounds U3O8 (1346 tU) from the project to a North American utility beginning in 2026 - and said it has received additional Requests for Proposal for uranium offtake agreements from utilities. Nearly 1.5 million pounds U3O8 per year over the first five years of the mine's operation, representing nearly 30% of scheduled production, are now contracted under such offtake agreements.

"The Government of Niger has confirmed its full support for the Dasa Project and recognises it’s a new mine that will benefit the Republic of Niger by creating new jobs and opportunities for local business and revitalise the northern region of the country," Global Atomic President and CEO Stephen Roman said. “The Government has offered its encouragement in the development of Dasa and all support required to accelerate construction and the start of mining operations.”

Logistics issues regarding importing goods into Niger are being addressed by the government, which has recently given full approval for the transport of goods via ports in Ghana and Togo and overland via Burkina Faso, the company added. Internal flights are expected to be restored shortly.

Mine excavation began at Dasa in 2022, and the project's 2021 Phase 1 Feasibility Study estimates yellowcake delivery to utilities to begin in 2025. A revised mine plan for Dasa that will integrate recently updated mineral resource figures is nearing completion and will form the basis of a revised feasibility study to be completed in the first half of 2024, the company said.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Floating-nuclear-power-plant-set-for-first-refuell

Nuclear fuel has been delivered to Russia's floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov with the landmark refuelling set to begin before the end of the year.

The fuel was delivered by TVEL, Rosatom's fuel division, via the Northern Sea Route to the site, in Pevek, in the Chukotka region, in northeast Russia. The fuel was manufactured by TVEL's Elektrostal Machine-Building Plant, which is in the Moscow region.

The Akademik Lomonosov, which supplies heat and power to the town, is based on two KLT-40S reactors generating 35 MWe each, which are similar to those used in a previous generation of nuclear powered icebreakers. The fuel for the second reactor is due to be supplied and loaded during 2024.

TVEL said that unlike land-based large reactors which generally require replacement of a proportion of their fuel rods every 12-18 months "in the case of these reactors, the refuelling takes place once every few years and includes unloading of the entire reactor core and loading of fresh fuel into the reactor". It says this means there can be up to 3.5 years between refuellings.

Akademik Lomonosov, which was put into commercial operation in May 2020, was described at the time as a pilot project and a 'working prototype' for a future fleet of floating nuclear power plants and on-shore installations based on Russian-made small modular reactors intended for deployment in hard-to-reach areas of Russia's North and Far-East, as well as for export. Named after the 18th century Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, it is 144 metres long and 30 metres wide, and has a displacement of 21,000 tonnes.

The town of Pevek has a population of about 4000, while the floating plant could potentially supply electricity to a city of 100,000. Since commissioning it is replacing the Bilibino nuclear power plant as it is retired, having operated since 1974, and the Chaunskaya thermal power plant which had been operating for more than 70 years. It also supplies power more widely in the region, including to mining companies involved in the development of the Baimsk ore zone.

Rosatom is already in the process of constructing four floating power units and is targeting the export market for floating nuclear power plants with capacity of at least 100 MWe and an assigned service life of up to 60 years featuring RITM-200M reactors, derived from those used on Russia's latest nuclear-powered icebreakers.

As the Israeli crisis showcases the need for energy independence, the conditions for Italy’s return to atomic energy are increasingly favourable. Ministers Salvini, Pichetto and Urso, representing the government’s three major parties, displayed the executive’s unity on the matter and hoped that Rome would be flicking the switch back on in 2032

The Italian government is wholeheartedly in favour of nuclear power. That’s the inescapable takeaway from a conference (“Nucleare: si può fare,” organised by Intelligence Week) in which three leading members of the executive took part. Representing all three major partners in the governing coalition, they displayed unity in their support for a gradual return to nuclear power generation.

• These were Matteo Salvini (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport), Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Minister of the Environment and Energy Security) and Adolfo Urso (Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy).
• All spoke of a whole-of-government approach to a nuclear strategy, which is currently being drafted by the brand new National Platform for Sustainable Nuclear – kickstarted by Minister Pichetto in late September and overseen by his ministry.

It’s a strategic choice – especially now. The ministers emphasised the need for energy autonomy and diversification against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel conflict, which has already compounded the long-running energy crisis by impacting oil and gas prices. “We need to reduce dependence on coal, gas and oil and achieve Europe’s energy independence. Nuclear power can make a significant contribution. This government is more aware than others of our and Europe’s needs, and it can do nuclear power because this strategy is shared by all its components and its majority,” explained Minister Urso.

• “The images from Israel are barbarically topical and require us to reflect [on energy issues] without ideology,” commented Minister Salvini, while Minister Pichetto stressed that Rome maintains “a very strong relationship with current supplier countries” – such as Algeria, Libya, and Azerbaijan.

Please, in my back yard. The deputy PM made headlines by declaring that he would be happy to see a next-generation reactor in his native city, Milan – quite the statement in a country that struggles with the NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome and twice rejected atomic energy with two referendums, in 1987 (right after Chernobyl) and in 2011 (right after Fukushima). Still, Minister Salvini is calling for a new country-wide consultation on next-generation nuclear power.

• The context is that conditions are increasingly favourable: a majority of Italian citizens (54%) now favour nuclear power according to a recent SWG poll, and the young are especially keen (63%, compared to 47% of those over 55).
• “There was reluctance to talk about nuclear power, but the country has changed a lot,” commented Minister Pichetto with reference to the polling numbers and speaking of a “new and modern sensibility.”
• “A greater awareness of this issue has developed in Italy,” added Minister Urso, who believes the nuclear strategy can overcome electoral contingencies: “we can lay the groundwork in this legislature, and in the next one perhaps someone else will be able to inaugurate those plants.”

Dates and tech solutions. Asked about the referendums, Minister Pichetto replied that they referred to outdated power plants. “We are not talking about the third generation of nuclear power; we are talking about the fourth,” as well as novel reactors that “experts say will be feasible in the early 2030s”. Still, the principle of technological neutrality prevails: today is not about deciding what kind of reactor to deploy – but rather preparing the ground for doing so in the future, he said.

• This did not stop Minister Salvini from venturing a date: “If we start tomorrow, in 2024 […] it will take seven to eight years. Which means that the first switch can be turned on in 2032.”

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/New-working-group-aims-to-speed-JEK2-project-in-Sl

A new working group of Slovenian government ministers and industry officials has met with the aim of preparing "all the necessary bases for citizens to make high-quality and informed decisions about supporting the JEK2 project", with a planned timeline of a final investment decision by 2028 "at the latest".

Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob has said that there needs to be public backing, via a referendum, before the new nuclear project can go ahead, and he said the new working group was a "step towards examining whether" the new nuclear plant - a second unit at the existing Krško plant - "can be part of the Slovenian power industry's solution for dealing with the climate crisis".

The group will also "study how to use special legislation to reach a new nuclear facility as quickly and economically as possible", he added.

State Secretary for the National Nuclear Programme, Danijel Levičar, head of the working group, emphasised that the government of Slovenia recognised the strategic importance of the construction of JEK 2.

Director General of GEN Energija Dejan Paravan and JEK2 Project Manager Bruno Glaser attended the meeting and outlined the steps being taken "to speed up the implementation of the project ... according to the planned timeline in such a way that the final investment decision is made by 2028 at the latest".

Krško, a 696 MWe pressurised water reactor, is Slovenia's only nuclear power plant and generates about one-third of its electricity. The plant, which is co-owned by neighbouring Croatia, began commercial operation in 1981, and a 20-year extension to its initial 40-year operational lifetime was confirmed in mid-2015. Krško is owned and operated by Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško, which is jointly owned by Croatia's Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and Slovenia's GEN Energija.

GEN group says JEK 2 could provide 8 TWh electricity per year, bringing with it the benefits of being able to reduce the need to import electricity, cut CO2 emissions as well as being used for district heating schemes and providing jobs and skills across the Slovenian economy.

Source: https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1772051309/klimaatactivisten-eisen-einde-verzet-tegen-kernenergie-greenpeace-zit-vast-in-verleden Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/7rwy6

Volgens de jongeren zou de milieuclub zijn energie moeten steken in de strijd tegen fossiele brandstoffen. Het gezelschap verdedigt de plaats die kernenergie heeft gekregen op een lijst van de EU van duurzame energiebronnen.

Greenpeace heeft onlangs een rechtszaak aangespannen tegen de Europese Commissie om kernenergie uit deze zogenoemde ’groene taxonomie’ te krijgen. De organisatie stelt dat atoomstroom niet duurzaam is en bergen gevaarlijk afval produceert. Maar volgens de jongeren van RePlanet bewijs je het klimaat juist een heel erg slechte dienst wanneer kernenergie zou worden uitgesloten en het – als gevolg daarvan – verstoken blijft van subsidies. Vandaar dat zij zich als partij in de zaak hebben gemeld. Het doel van hun inmenging is om, aan de zijde van de EC, kernenergie op de groene lijst te houden. Als het Europese Hof van Justitie hun verzoek accepteert, mogen zij hun standpunt in de rechtszaal verdedigen.

Ia Aanstoot, die een Nederlandse vader heeft, was actief voor de scholierenstaking voor het klimaat, de beweging die Greta Thunberg lanceerde in Zweden. Drie jaar lang ging zij elke vrijdag niet naar school. „Greenpeace zit vast in het verleden en vecht tegen schone, CO2-vrije kernenergie”, meent zij.

Achterhoedegevecht

Ook Van der Heide stelt vast dat het tij voor de nucleaire industrie aan het keren is en dat Greenpeace een achterhoedegevecht voert. „Steeds meer mensen begrijpen dat kerncentrales geen broeikasgas uitstoten en ook niet vervuilend zijn. Bovendien levert een klein beetje uranium genoeg op om iedereen een welvarend bestaan te garanderen.”

Het argument dat kernenergie niet duurzaam is omdat de voorraad uranium niet oneindig is, maakt geen indruk op hem. „Het moment dat het op zou kunnen raken, is echt nog heel erg ver weg. En wat het afval betreft, dat zijn geen bergen. Het is heel weinig en je kunt het veilig opbergen.”

Van der Heide merkt onder studiegenoten en vrienden eigenlijk nooit iets van weerstand tegen het atoom. De tijd van ’Kernenergie? Nee bedankt!’-stickers is voor zijn generatie iets uit een grijs verleden. Dat blijkt ook uit het onlangs door RePlanet uitgebrachte The World Wants New Nucleair: er zijn meer voorstanders dan tegenstanders van atoomstroom, zelfs onder leden van klimaatclubs.

Van der Heide ging zich door zijn moeder, ook actief voor RePlanet, interesseren voor het thema. „Je hoeft het met je ouders niet altijd oneens te zijn”, lacht hij.

IJsbeer

In 2021 deed hij mee aan een klimaatmars, verkleed als ijsbeer. Op de buik van zijn pak van 2,5 meter stond de tekst ’Kernenergie ja graag!’ „De sfeer was heel gezellig en gemoedelijk, hoewel mensen van Greenpeace erg wantrouwend reageerden. Aan het eind werd mijn pak lek gestoken met een speld door types die ’fascist, fascist’ riepen. Heel vreemd. Wat schone energie en fascisme met elkaar te maken hebben...?”

Het wordt tijd dat iedereen erkent dat kernenergie hard nodig is, denkt Van der Heide. „Want hernieuwbare energie is afhankelijk van het weer, het levert veel te weinig op en het maakt elektriciteit duurder.”