Requirements for nuclear energy in the 21st century

In 1999, the 433 nuclear power plants in operation, with an aggregate power of approx. 349 GWe, supplied roughly 16% of the worldwide electricity requirement. Because of the capital requirement involved in building nuclear power plants, and the requirements to be met for the technical infrastructure, 83% of the world's nuclear generating capacity is installed in the highly industrialized countries. Two criteria determine the extent to which nuclear power will be utilized in the future: Economic competitiveness, and the need to meet the sustainability requirement as defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations. As far as competitiveness is concerned, nuclear power, in the plants currently in operation, is seen to be as cost effective as the conventional sources of energy, coal, oil, and natural gas, or even more so. If external costs are included in the balance, especially the costs associated with the influence on the climate as a result of CO2 emissions, there is even a clearcut cost advantage of nuclear power. However, the hopes for economically favorable renewable energy sources have not yet been confirmed. Analyses of the sustainability of nuclear power show a large measure of agreement with the demands for resource conservation, low pollutant emissions, and low overall risks to the public. Future reactor developments with special measures of protection against incidents and accidents, in order to avoid radioactive emissions into the environment, are able to meet requirements to an even higher degree than is the case now. The operation of nuclear power plants by the end of 1999 have rise to some 220,000 t of spent nuclear fuel elements containing approx. 1400 t of plutonium. The strategies of treating these fuel elements, and the valuable materials and waste they contain, are affected not only be aspects of economic viability and sustainability but also by the public debate about this topic, and are thus an important problem to be solved. Modern strategies of treating spent fuel, e.g. by transmutation and recycling of nuclear fuel into reactors, can greatly contribute to minimizing risk and, in addition, help recover valuable materials. (orig.)