Can the world ever learn to love nuclear power?

When I was three years old, a reactor at the nuclear power plant 30 kilometres east of our split-level suburban home partially melted down.

Like most people in the neighborhood, when my parents heard about the trouble at Three Mile Island they considered loading up the family station wagon and fleeing. Like most people in the neighborhood, they didn’t.

Several years after the worst nuclear accident in US history, a Columbia University study couldn’t establish a clear connection between the radioactive gas it released and elevated local cancer rates. Yet by that point, the public was in no mood to hear about the relative safety of splitting atoms.

In a strange coincidence, a Hollywood blockbuster about the perils of nuclear power was released just days before the incident at Three Mile Island. “The China Syndrome” benefited from auspicious timing, but it was just part of a long thread of similarly themed, similarly alarming entertainment. Headlines generated by events like the Fukushima disaster in Japan have only further hardened public opinion.

But what if this source of so much collective anxiety is also one of our best bets for averting a climate catastrophe?

An irony noted when Three Mile Island closed in 2019 was that it happened on the same day activists around the world took to the streets to call for climate action. One action to help prevent devastating global warming, according to scientists and economists convened by the UN, would be to increase the electricity we get from nuclear energy.

Earlier this week, 10 European Union countries issued a statement calling for the bloc to label nuclear a climate-friendly energy source – which could boost investment in the sector. They say nuclear is a safe option to stabilize energy prices, and will help the EU hit its target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

However, much of the world remains unconvinced.

When Japan restarted a nuclear reactor to help the country cut emissions it triggered alarm, and California is closing its last nuclear power plant despite a state mandate to curb emissions.

Nuclear power proponents say a “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) attitude hinders development – though not everywhere. “Hard to be a NIMBY in China,” as one American journalist quipped. China has doubled its nuclear capacity recently, and is likely to maintain that pace at least until 2025.

The science of atomic radiation originated in the late 19^th century, and interest in harnessing nuclear fission peaked during the 20^th. Militaries prized it as a means to power submarines and put vessels out to sea for long periods without having to refuel.

The first nuclear power plant was connected to an electricity grid in the Soviet Union in 1954. Hundreds more have been built since, as critics raise issues related to safety, human rights violations, nuclear weapons proliferation, and waste that can remain lethal for thousands of years.

Germany has decided the risks aren’t worth it, and is phasing out nuclear power even as it aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 (it is one of a smaller group of EU countries opposed to the recent statement by member states backing nuclear as a green option).

A next generation of nuclear reactors could improve safety and efficiency. “Small modular reactors” may produce less energy individually, but can be scaled up as needed. They also include added safety features.

One company founded by Bill Gates has developed a “Natrium” reactor technology that stores heat in molten salt and is designed to work well with renewables. It recently announced plans for a pilot project in Wyoming.

The number of operable reactors has remained relatively flat for decades – some 440 currently supply about 10% of the world’s electricity. However, dozens more are under construction.

Nuclear energy promises to be a source of lively debate at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) scheduled to begin soon. Meanwhile, new research on the impact of the accident at Three Mile Island continues to be published.

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