Is Nuclear the Answer to Our Energy Crisis?
With lower carbon emissions, entrepreneurs who can develop nuclear technology are looking at an extremely profitable future.
In his 2010 TED Talk, Bill Gates called for “energy miracles” and identified nuclear energy as one potential candidate. The Microsoft founder was right about an infectious outbreak occurring in the 21st century, and he may be just as right about the future of energy.
Although we have made little progress on nuclear energy in the last 10 years, the burgeoning urgency to combat climate change reminds us that Gates’s predictions may come true once again. In fact, the demand for cleaner energy sources presents opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors to not only enter a potentially profitable industry, but also do so while making a positive social impact.
Those who find themselves unfamiliar with nuclear energy may shy away from its discussions, quickly recalling its devastation at the end of World War II as well as subsequent disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. However, nuclear energy deserves a lot more attention than it currently receives because it holds so much potential for our future.
What exactly is nuclear energy?
For starters, it doesn’t just create bombs.
While nuclear weapons refer to the powerful and deadly bombs produced by either combining or splitting atoms, nuclear energy harnesses the heat released from said reactions to spin turbines and generate electricity for general utility.
Only nine countries in the world possess nuclear weapons, but more than 50 countries around the world produce energy from nuclear reactors, accounting for 10% of the world’s electricity supply.
In the last few years, nuclear technology has resurfaced as a hot topic due to the increased demand for energy around the world — especially in rapidly developing China and India. In large part due to economic growth in the two nations along with many more around the globe, nuclear energy use is projected to grow by more than 70% from 2015 to 2040 — only 20 years away — despite an expected decline in EU nuclear capacity.
How does nuclear energy work?
It is not as complicated as one may think.
Currently, most nuclear power plants use uranium-238, enriched with small percentages of uranium-235, to split the uranium-23 isotope, a reaction that produces impressive amounts of energy in a process called nuclear fission. However, fusing two nuclei in a process called nuclear fusion has also become more common, and these reactions can involve isotopes of hydrogen, such as tritium-2 and deuterium-1.
There are two kinds of nuclear reactors: boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors. In boiling water reactors, heat from the reactor core boils water into steam, which spins turbines that generate electricity.
In pressurized water reactors, the heat produced from the reactor core is first used to heat the water supply (which is kept from boiling) before transferring heat to the second water supply, which boils and forms steam to spin turbines. A third water supply cools the second water supply to continue the process.
The benefits of nuclear
The most important reason why researchers and scientists have looked toward nuclear energy as the future lies in its extremely low carbon emissions. Since no burning of coal or other materials occurs during a nuclear reaction, nuclear power plants produce zero emissions during operation. Over time, the small amounts of emissions and air pollution involved with the entire process of construction, transportation, etc. are incomparable to the visibly dark amounts released during the production and combustion of fossil fuels.
A 2018 study by researchers at MIT highlighted how nuclear energy can lead the way in decarbonizing the energy industry, a massive step toward curbing climate change.
The study called nuclear energy a “dispatchable low-carbon technology” whose absence from the future of clean energy would cause “the cost of achieving deep decarbonization targets [to increase] significantly.”
Indeed, upon analyzing emissions of various energy sources, the World Nuclear Association has recognized that nuclear power produces about the same emissions as wind energy and about a third of that of solar energy. Compared to coal, biomass, and natural gas, nuclear definitely presents a cleaner option for the near future.
What’s the catch?
Okay, so nuclear power can be dangerous. It can be deadly, and it can be catastrophic. After the infamous disasters in Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011), it’s no wonder why Germany vowed to phase out all of its nuclear programs by 2022, and why many countries have considered following suit.
However, a study by researchers at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and Carnegie Mellon University revealed that Germany’s shutdown of nuclear programs simply shifted energy production from nuclear to coal, resulting in an additional social cost of $12 billion and a potential loss of 1,100 lives due to increased pollution from burning coal each year.
If these studies are accurate, distancing ourselves from nuclear energy may prove to actually cause more harm than good in the short term — and undoubtedly in the long term as well.
Nonetheless, the undeniably high cost of producing nuclear energy presents the greatest inhibition to future developments. Not only are there costs associated with power plants’ daily operations, initial site preparation, construction, and financing, but potential externalities (including accidents) and high taxes also contribute to competitively high costs. Furthermore, nuclear power plants generate huge amounts of radioactive waste for which we have not yet found sustainable methods to store.
Who’s producing nuclear energy
Currently, the United States boasts 57 nuclear power plants with 95 reactors in 29 states. Since most nuclear power plants in the U.S. were built before 1990 — that’s already 30 years ago! — we have plenty of room to innovate, improve our infrastructure, and upgrade our technology to increase the efficiency, reach, and safety of nuclear power plants.
However, a 2018 study by the Rainey Center revealed that not only do more than half of Americans oppose the use of nuclear energy, but political ideology and partisanship also play a large role in determining one’s support for nuclear as a source of energy. This may present further challenges to an industry already facing difficulty gaining support.
The rest of the world seems more open to the idea of nuclear energy.
Having surpassed the U.S. as the highest importer of oil, China has also recognized the need for alternative energy sources and approved the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the first week of September. Amid rising energy security concerns in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s commitment to nuclear energy reinforces its potential future for not only China, but also the world.
In Europe, Poland recently committed to investing $40 billion on renewable and nuclear energy as part of its efforts to phase out its reliance on coal. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has gained support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to advance its own nuclear energy program. Although South Africa is currently the only country in Africa with nuclear power plants, Kenya is partnering with private investors to spend $5 billion on a nuclear power plant over the next seven years.
Opportunities for entrepreneurs
In 2006, Bill Gates founded TerraPower in hopes of harnessing the competitive edge of the private sector to revitalize growth and investment in nuclear energy in the 21st century. Most recently, the company announced that it would be building small nuclear power stations that could store energy from solar and wind sources.
Gates’s initiative, though 14 years old, is not at all outdated. Technology like nuclear energy takes time to not only develop in a safe way but also to marinate with public opinion. Nearly 70 years since Russia built the world’s first nuclear power plant, there is no time better than now to capitalize on this opportunity to derive sustainable climate change solutions.
Since the highest setback for growth in nuclear energy is cost, investors would be smart to follow Gates’s lead and consider investing in the industry.
Entrepreneurs who can develop ways to improve nuclear technology and lower costs are potentially looking at an extremely profitable future with great social impact.
After all, if successful, nuclear energy may very well take over as the world’s leading energy source, especially as climate change concerns grow. Furthermore, as governments like Kenya’s — and especially those of developing countries whose economies are projected to skyrocket in the coming century — begin to seriously consider nuclear energy as an option, the opportunities to expand private-public partnerships seem endless.
That is, if we harness the willpower to do so, overcome widespread stigma against nuclear energy, and pour resources into tackling existing challenges head-on.
Although Bill Gates spoke about energy miracles a decade ago, his assertions remain true. If we focus our resources and attention on innovating the nuclear industry, especially since the technology’s framework has already worked for decades, nuclear energy can very likely become the miracle of the 21st century. Now, our task is to derive a “new and improved” version that can address the cost, safety, and waste storage concerns that have prohibited growth in this promising industry.
In order to take climate change seriously, we must seriously consider reinvesting in nuclear energy. Let’s open up the dialogue about nuclear energy for a cleaner and more sustainable future.
