August 3, 2009, 9:27 am
By James Kanter
Bloomberg News An international renewable energy group said last week that nuclear power would not be among the technologies it supports.
Many environmental groups are fundamentally opposed to the notion that nuclear power is a renewable form of energy — on the grounds that it produces harmful waste byproducts and relies on extractive industries to procure fuel like uranium.
Even so, the nuclear industry and pro-nuclear officials from countries including France have been trying to brand the technology as renewable, on the grounds that it produces little or no greenhouse gases. Branding nuclear as renewable could also enable nuclear operators to benefit from some of the same subsidies and friendly policies offered to clean energies like wind, solar and biomass.
So far, however, efforts to categorize nuclear as a renewable source of power are making little headway.
The latest setback came last week, when the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency –- an intergovernmental group known as IRENA that advises about 140 member countries on making the transition to clean energy –- dismissed the notion of including nuclear power among its favored technologies.
“IRENA will not support nuclear energy programs because it’s a long, complicated process, it produces waste and is relatively risky,” Hélène Pelosse, its interim director general, told Reuters last week.
Energy sources like solar power, Ms. Pelosse said, are better alternatives — and less expensive ones, “especially with countries blessed with so much sun for solar plants,” she said.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/is-nuclear-power-renewable/
By James Kanter
Bloomberg News An international renewable energy group said last week that nuclear power would not be among the technologies it supports.
Many environmental groups are fundamentally opposed to the notion that nuclear power is a renewable form of energy — on the grounds that it produces harmful waste byproducts and relies on extractive industries to procure fuel like uranium.
Even so, the nuclear industry and pro-nuclear officials from countries including France have been trying to brand the technology as renewable, on the grounds that it produces little or no greenhouse gases. Branding nuclear as renewable could also enable nuclear operators to benefit from some of the same subsidies and friendly policies offered to clean energies like wind, solar and biomass.
So far, however, efforts to categorize nuclear as a renewable source of power are making little headway.
The latest setback came last week, when the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency –- an intergovernmental group known as IRENA that advises about 140 member countries on making the transition to clean energy –- dismissed the notion of including nuclear power among its favored technologies.
“IRENA will not support nuclear energy programs because it’s a long, complicated process, it produces waste and is relatively risky,” Hélène Pelosse, its interim director general, told Reuters last week.
Energy sources like solar power, Ms. Pelosse said, are better alternatives — and less expensive ones, “especially with countries blessed with so much sun for solar plants,” she said.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/is-nuclear-power-renewable/
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