One billion people go to sleep every night without access to electricity. Two and a half billion people do not have access to clean cooking fuels or heating fuels to take care of their families. These statistics, highlighted in a TED-talk by energy scholar Joe Lassiter, are absolutely staggering. It is shocking to realise for us, in the western world, that there are many in developing countries living without things that we would consider a basic need. Just imagine telling your teenage son that there will be no more television at night. Or your 14-year-old daughter that there’ll be no more internet at home.
Yet the issue of expanding the power grids and guaranteeing access to electricity or fuels is a double-edged sword that cuts much deeper than the simple logistics of increasing coverage. As it stands, the world is already pushing the envelope of what we can actually generate. The exploitation of fossil fuels and scarce resources have brought us to the edge of a deadly cliff. We are waging a war with Mother Nature that we are bound to lose - if the increasing volume and severity of natural disasters is anything to go by.
There are solutions. One of the most frequently mentioned - and definitely most debated - being the construction of new nuclear reactors. Wait, hold on. The same nuclear reactors that we are working so hard to get rid of? That we, ever since disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima, have vowed to replace by safer and greener alternatives? Yes. Those.
In order to understand this movement, some key elements have to be understood. First of all, modern reactors are much safer than their notorious counterparts. At the same time, they are cleaner than most of the alternatives involving coal or other fossil fuels while generating much more energy at a lower cost. Their major downside is its negative image, fuelled by fears for nuclear mishaps leaving large areas uninhabitable.
Nuclear reactors around the world
Some of the world’s largest nations still heavily depend on nuclear power for their electricity needs, including the United States, France, Russia and Spain. Growth economies are in the process of constructing a large number of new plants, including in the Middle East, India, China and Pakistan. The sheer number of people living in those countries that require energy, plus the promises made in the Paris treaty towards fighting global warming and drastically reducing harmful emissions, have swayed their political leaders to be in favour of those nuclear giants.
But who can blame them? They are doing what is best for their people. As the billions of people that previously lived in poverty move towards a more prosperous life, this inevitably includes access to gas, to electricity, to resources. We are struggling to live up to the demand as it is today, let alone what would happen if all 7,7 billion of us would want to turn on the light at the same time.
Break the nuclear taboo
Just as we are unwilling to let go of our newfound luxuries that run on electricity or other scarce resources, so will those billions who are just now being introduced to it. Demand will double, triple, you name it - while we are fussing about sustainable ways of meeting it. And the best part? We will only start using more energy as we get access to more. Increased supply will drive up demand. It is a cycle that we cannot break free from. Nor will it be realistic to assume that it can fully be met through renewable sources like solar, wind and water energy.
Coming back to the issue of nuclear power. It is understandable that many, especially those who lived through the disasters in the past, are hesitant to embrace the idea of more nuclear power plants. Experts largely agree that they have become safer and more reliable, yet do not rule out the potential for disaster at this time. Not to mention the costs and time associated with their construction and maintenance and the headache of decommissioning.
But it might just be time to put our heads together and break through the nuclear taboo. Coming together and finding ways of tackling those issues, working towards a safe and clean implementation of nuclear energy, might be our best shot at preserving our world while getting all of us the resources we need in this day and age.
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