Pakistan needs to reap the dividends of nuclear energy
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The United Nations Climate Summit COP28 was concluded in Dubai on Dec. 12, with promises of speeding up processes to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. The remarkable enterprise was a pledge by the global nuclear industry to triple nuclear energy by 2050.
Nuclear energy is acknowledged as an essential source of clean energy, and the pledge by 22 countries to triple nuclear energy capacity drew attention to the vitality of nuclear fusion. On Dec. 5, US climate envoy John Kerry said that the Biden administration would work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new carbon-free energy source. Indeed, the benefits of fusion energy are colossal because it produces four million times more energy than fossil fuels- coal, oil, and gas— without releasing harmful gases. Are developing states, including Pakistan, prepared and involved in the scientific research to benefit from nuclear fusion energy?
Scientists opine that ‘nuclear fusion melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy.’ It would be a clean energy source to power cars, heat/cool homes, and other things instead of fossil fuels. It means no carbon dioxide or other harmful atmospheric emissions from the fusion process. Moreover, the process produces very little waste that is much less radioactive than that from a conventional nuclear power plant. Hence, the fusion does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions or global warming.
Pakistan has struggled to increase nuclear power input in its energy-mix policy.
- Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal
Currently, many environmental groups are opposed to nuclear energy. They are presenting fission and fusion sources of atomic energy identically, which requires clarification by the advocators of nuclear fusion as a clean and safe energy source. The differences in the operation of fission and fusion reactors needs to be made well known.
The revival of nuclear energy will effectively cut carbon emissions to near zero in the coming decades. However, the creation of atomic energy encompasses a few severe challenges. It increases the probability of the horizontal proliferation to nuclear weapons and nuclear and radiological terrorism. For instance, recently, Britain’s Sellafield nuclear site, which carries out nuclear fuel reprocessing, nuclear waste storage, and decommissioning, was hacked by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China. Britain’s office for nuclear regulation denied the report by stating, “Our monitoring systems are robust, and we have a high degree of confidence that no such malware exists on our system.” However, the analysts maintain that Sellafield currently needs to meet the specific high standards of cybersecurity required.
Admittedly, the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi four-reactor meltdown raise serious concerns about the safety and security of nuclear power plants, and these accidents decreased investment in nuclear power plant construction. In Japan, all nuclear power plants were shut down, and Germany announced the complete end of nuclear power generation. The memories of these accidents germinate negativities and fear about nuclear energy.
Moreover, a thermonuclear weapon or hydrogen bomb uses fusion reactions. It has the power to wipe out entire cities and kill significantly more people than the already powerful atomic bomb.
Significant scientific and engineering challenges must still be fixed before a commercial power plant can operate. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency estimate, a fusion reactor prototype is expected to be built by 2040. Besides, the foolproof apparatus to prevent the usage of civilian nuclear fusion technology and material from manufacturing fusion weapons is missing.
The advocators of fusion technology opine that the fusion reactors will not melt down like Chernobyl and Daiichi due to an intrinsically safe physical process. The fusion reactor operates differently from the fission one, and there’s no chance of meltdowns such as those at Chernobyl and Fukushima. Fusion reactors are considered to be inherently safe from sabotage and accidents.
Pakistan has struggled to increase nuclear power input in its energy-mix policy despite the Nuclear Supplier Group’s denied approach since 1975. It generates atomic energy through nuclear fission, i.e., a method used in power plants by which uranium atoms from a heavy, unstable nucleus are split into two or more lighter nuclei.
Pakistan’s nuclear power industry has been fully-fledged with the assistance of China during the last two decades. It is currently operating six nuclear power plants, which are under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
In summary, the Pakistani nuclear scientific bureaucracy has gained expertise in the fission nuclear fuel cycle but seems distanced from fusion energy research. Therefore, it seems imperative that the government must realize the benefits of fusion energy and invests in its research and development.
- Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal is an Islamabad-based analyst and professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @zafar_jaspal
