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Nuclear power a most carbon emitting energy source

Nuclear energy is not zero-carbon – it’s a carbon hog!

Deep Green: What the Greens got right | Greenpeace International by Rex Weyler – January 14, 2011 “…….“Nuclear power is … a massive potential source of zero-carbon power.”Zero carbon? Dead wrong. Nuclear power is among the most carbon-intensive forms of energy.

Why? Start with cement, a massive carbon-consuming product. Add mining, milling, enriching and transporting uranium; forging high-alloy steels for pressurised containment vessels; construction of complex plants; and handling, shipping, reprocessing and storing radioactive waste. All of these stages require fossil fuel supplies. Mark Jacobson at Stanford Universitycompared the lifetime CO ₂ emissions of energy sources in a Review of Global Warming Solutions. He found wind and concentrated solar emit 3 to 11 grams of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity. Nuclear electricity emits between 68 and 180 grams per kWh. Mr. Lynas was wrong. Nuclear energy is not zero-carbon – it’s a carbon hog! It also presents unsolved problems with security, weapons proliferation, radioactive emissions, decommissioning and waste storage.

Deep Green: What the Greens got right | Greenpeace International

January 14, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change