Sir, – It is fascinating that the EU has drafted a reclassification of some gas and nuclear generation as “green”. Gas combustion carries not a risk, but a certainty, of exacerbating global warming which already threatens humanity’s very survival, whereas fourth-generation nuclear is allegedly fail-safe, albeit with the small overhead of nuclear waste storage, insignificant compared with climate catastrophe. Ireland’s top priority rightly is to exploit our (and Europe’s) bountiful, if intermittent, wind resource. Still, the national goal that at least 20 per cent of our expanding electricity demand will be met from fossil fuels in 2030 (the crunch year for climate breakdown), and beyond, is frightening, since various climate tipping points have already started.
In failing to explore a role for nuclear, the Government is guilty of worse than negligence, as the existing Irish legal ban on nuclear power also has a chilling effect on any investigation by industry or academia into the usefulness or feasibility of nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs), which are a small but significant part of the future carbon-free energy mix in America, increasingly in Europe, and beyond.
Electricity blackouts are politically unacceptable, for good reason. Reliance on, and investment in, fossil gas is environmentally unacceptable, and increasingly difficult economically. Also, one would think that the broadest possible mix of generation and storage technologies would balance the various risks of environmental impacts from mining, end-of-life issues, planning and supply-chain delays, etc.
A net-zero roadmap for the electricity sector is due to be delivered in mid-2024. This will be extremely challenging, and must not be hobbled by limiting technological choices unnecessarily. International standards, such as ISO, can assess and compare the environmental risks and threats of different options, on a level playing field. Therefore all proven and feasible technologies, including nuclear, must be evaluated urgently, using the same environmental criteria, to guide our electricity technology mix for a net-zero solution.
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Ireland must play its part in avoiding extreme climate breakdown, while retaining some measure of prosperity. Our Government must follow the science, all of the science. – Yours, etc,
CLAIRE
WHEELER,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.