Greenwashing of nuclear power and nuclear waste?

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Theresa Zettl

At the beginning of the use of nuclear energy 60 years ago, people dreamed of an infinite supply of cheap electricity. The little bit of nuclear waste that was produced could be shot into space or dumped in the sea. To date, tons of radioactive nuclear waste have accumulated, which must be stored safely and in some cases shielded from the biosphere for over a million years. Up until today, there is no suitable final repository for it anywhere in the world. 

In fact, the disposal of nuclear waste into the sea has been the practice for decades. It was not until 1994 that dumping of solids was banned. Countries, including Germany, dumped about 115,000 tons of nuclear waste in the Northeast Atlantic. Nuclear waste also lies on the bottom in the English Channel, off the Portuguese and southern Italian coasts, in the Adriatic Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The casks are rusting, many are leaking, radioactivity is escaping into the sea.

Nuclear waste production starts with uranium mining

What most people do not know: Nuclear waste is already produced during uranium mining. One ton of fuel elements requires 133,000 metric tons of uranium ore, about 90 percent of which remains on site as radiated waste in tailings piles, contaminating rivers, groundwater and ultimately people. 

In most cases, uranium processing takes place near the mine, where uranium is extracted from the ore and processed into so-called yellowcake. What remains is toxic sludge that still contains up to 85 percent of the original radioactivity, plus heavy metals, arsenic and chemical additives. The toxic dusts disperse with the wind and contribute to the contamination of people and the environment. 

In the next step, uranium enrichment, the yellowcake is converted into the highly toxic, chemically aggressive uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Enrichment produces depleted uranium (DU), which can be misused as armor-piercing munitions for military purposes.

Greenwashing of nuclear power and nuclear waste?

Nuclear energy is not green energy. An accurate carbon footprint of nuclear power also needs to include the construction of nuclear power plants. This is a highly energy intensive process. The bottom line is that when we calculate the carbon costs of creating nuclear power from beginning to end, it is not carbon neutral. The claim that nuclear power does not generate greenhouse gases is only true if you look only at a narrow slice of nuclear power generation, not the complete cycle which includes producing the uranium, building nuclear power plants and managing radioactive waste from both mining and power plants for thousands of years.

Adding up the fossil fused used to produce nuclear energy, it is obvious that nuclear power does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it is not an answer to the crisis of climate change.

Just recently, activists and EU members were angered after the European Commission said both nuclear and gas had a role to play in the transition to cleaner energy. It is about a draft of the so-called EU taxonomy, a brochure of climate-friendly investments from which investors will be encouraged to choose. The move follows promises by the private sector at the Cop26 summit that it would act with the planet’s interests in mind.

Greenpeace said the proposals were a “licence to greenwash” or conceal unpleasant facts about a company’s environmental footprint – the very kind of trickery that an EU-sanctioned green list was meant to avoid, as “Polluting companies will be delighted to have the EU’s seal of approval to attract cash and keep wrecking the planet by burning fossil gas and producing radioactive waste,” said Greenpeace’s Magda Stoczkiewicz. Also the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) criticised Brussels for sneaking out this proposal on New Year’s Day and giving countries only until January 12 to submit further objections after months of intensive lobbying. After that, it will go to the European Parliament and Council for approval. Only certain nuclear and gas projects will qualify.

Whats the POV of EU member countries?

Germany, the EU’s leading opponent of nuclear power which last week closed three of its last six reactors, said the decision to include atomic energy on the list was “absolutely wrong”. While Germany was refers to the 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima disasters into scrapping nuclear power, France and others see it as a low-carbon energy source that reduces Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

Austria, another anti-nuclear lobbyist in Europe, also said the EU’s proposals had taken a step towards greenwashing nuclear and gas. According to Austria’s Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler, the two energy sources are harmful to the climate and environment and destroy the future of our children. However for France and other pro-nuclear countries including Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, who had lobbied Brussels to include it on the list see the EU’s decision as victory!

Some facts about nuclear power plants in Europe:

(Source: EUROSTAT)

• Nuclear plants generated around 26.4 % of the electricity produced in the EU-27 in 2019.
• In 2019, 13 EU-27 countries had operational nuclear reactors: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
• Electricity generation from nuclear plants in the EU-27 decreased by 16.3 % between 2006 and 2019.

Are you interested in this topic?

European Liberals for Reform invites you to participate in our free online panel discussion “Nuclear and renewable energies” on 16.02.2022 at 20:30 CET. More information can be obtained here: https://elfr-blog.eu/event/nuclear-and-renewable-energies-discussion-panel-elfr

Kindly register for this panel discussion!

Author Profile

Theresa Zettl

Co-Founder of European Liberals for Reform
Chairperson of ELfR Working Group Health
ALDE Individual Members Steering Committee Member (2022-2023)

Social Media & Digital Marketing Expert, Blogger
Favorite Topics: Health, Society, LGBTQI

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