First, let's point out that you are reciting the figures of a self interested industry and claiming that those industry provided numbers are more valid than well respected researchers without a conflict of interest who are performing in their area of expertise.
Storm Van Leeuwin etal* have responded to the World Nuclear Association's claims and apparently they do not accept the arguments offered since they have a 2007 version of the paper online and they are making the direct claim:
Global warming is without doubt humanity’s greatest challenge. In responding to this challenge, we need to accept that radical action is needed. Nuclear power has been put forward as part of a sensible energy policy for reducing CO2emissions, sometimes by unexpected people including Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace.38 Given the way this claim is reported it is understandable that many people assume that it is correct. This assumption can and should be questioned.
“The Energy Challenge” asserts that nuclear energy would help the UK to meet our CO2 emissions targets (in conjunction with other measures) because:
• CO2generated per kilowatt hour is comparable to wind power, and
• there is plenty of high-grade ore available for uranium fuel production.
This chapter presents the evidence from a comprehensive energy analysis of the nuclear system,39which found that:
• if world nuclear generating capacity remains at today’s level, then by 2070 uranium fuelled nuclear power would produce as much CO2as a gas-fired power station; and
• if world nuclear generating share remains at today’s level, then nuclear power would generate as much CO2as a gas-fired power station by approximately 2050. The claim of the nuclear industry that nuclear power emits low levels of CO2and other greenhouse gases is not based on scientifically verifiable evidence. Emissions of greenhouse gases other than CO2, often with Global Warming Potentials many thousands of times larger than carbon dioxide, by nuclear power never have been investigated and/or published.
Absence of data definitely does not mean absence of greenhouse gas emissions.
Reducing CO2 emissions?
Recovering uranium from the earth’s crust involves a sequence of physical and chemical processes that use energy and produce CO2,40both of which can be calculated reasonably accurately. Today, the average ore grade used to fuel nuclear reactors is 0.15% U3O8 (1.5 g uraniumoxide from 1 kg rock), the specific energy needs and CO2emissions of the nuclear cycle using this grade natural uranium can be calculated too.41 To work out how nuclear power might help tackle global warming, we have to calculate the quantity of CO2the nuclear system as a whole emits, compared to other energy sources. It is true that the operation of a nuclear reactor emits virtually no CO2, but this is not true of the nuclear power system as a whole. In fact, nuclear power emits a lot more CO2than is commonly believed and, more importantly, CO2emissions from nuclear power will increase over time.
Our calculations indicate that within 45 to 70 years (depending on the scenario)nuclear power will emit as much CO2emissions as a gas-fired power plant (see below for details).
Two main variables determine CO2emissions from nuclear power:
• the operational lifetime of the nuclear plant; and
• the quality of the uranium bearing ore from which uranium is extracted.
Operational lifetime
The operational lifetime is important because the nuclear system consumes a large fixed amount of energy, and therefore emits a fixed quantity of CO2. If we assume an average operating lifetime of 35 years at a lifetime average load factor of 85% using uranium ore grade of 0.15%, then lifetime CO2emissions per kilowatt hour electricity (g CO2/kWh) are between 84 and 122. Official nuclear institutes cite much lower values: 3 - 40 gCO2-equivalents/kWh, including greenhouse gases other than CO2. These numbers are based on unpublished, and so unverifiable, analyses....
Download their paper from this page:
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers/secure_energy_civil_nuclear_power_security_and_global_warmingAbout the authors
Dr. Frank Barnaby is Nuclear Issues Consultant to Oxford Research Group (ORG). He is a nuclear
physicist by training and worked at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston
between1951-57. He was Executive Secretary of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and
World Affaires in the late 1960s and Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) from 1971-81.
Professor Keith Barnhamis Professor of Physics at Imperial College (London). A former
experimental particle physicist at CERN and Berkeley. He founded the Quantum Photovoltaic Group
at Imperial College which has pioneered the application of nanaostructures to solar cells.
James Kempis ORG’s Research & Fundraising Officer responsible for the Nuclear Issues Programme.
Since joining ORG in 2001, James has undertaken research and published on nuclear terrorism,
MoD spending in the UK, government subsidies to UK arms exporters, and funding for conflict
prevention. James has a BSc. (Hons.) in Politics & Anthropology and an MA in Human Rights.
Professor Paul Rogersis Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, and
Global Security Consultant to Oxford Research Group. Professor Rogers has worked in the field
of international security, arms control and political violence for over 30 years. He lectures
at universities and defence colleges in several countries and has written 20 books, including
“Losing Control: Global Security in the Early 21st Century” (Pluto Press, 2000; 2nd Edition, 2002)
and most recently “A War Too Far: Iraq, Iran and the New American Century” (Pluto Press, 2006).
Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen (MSc, physical chemistry, Technical University Eindhoven) is senior
scientist at Ceedata Consultancy. He works for the Open University at Heerlen, developing courses
for chemistry teachers. He is secretary of the Dutch Association of the Club of Rome. He is one
of the international group of expert reviewers of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and has published numerous reports and articles
on topics related to energy and environment.
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