Climate change is one of humanity’s greatest threats in the present day. Current sources of
electricity are mainly fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases at alarming rates. Ideally,
renewable energy sources would be a solution, however current technological shortcomings in
energy storage make renewables unsuited for large-scale continuous energy production. Nuclear
Power is the answer, and this report will examine how an electrical grid supplied by nuclear
energy achieves energy security, and reliability, and lowers greenhouse emissions.
The first goal in designing an electrical grid and your country’s energy policy is to ensure a
stable and reliable power supply. Nuclear reactors offer high-capacity factors, typically above
90%, which shows that they operate continuously with minimal interruptions to the grid. In
contrast with the argument for renewables for the majority of the electrical load, wind and solar
have lower capacity factors, lower than 50% due to factors outside of human control. Other
renewable sources like geothermal and hydropower are reliant on geographical features and
could be difficult for numerous locations to rely on those sources. Renewables rely on factors
that are out of man’s control which makes it an illogical and expensive endeavor to have a
consistent baseline of power done solely via renewables. Nuclear providing a reliable baseline
with few risks of outages is a security blanket that any grid should have.
Renewables and nuclear both have significant contributions to make to the decarbonization of
the power mix. Nuclear produces approximately 15 gCO2/kWh in its whole life cycle,
comparable to wind power and much lower than natural gas or coal. Solar power has a relatively
higher lifecycle emission rate due to manufacturing and materials processing but is still a lowcarbon source.
One of the main advantages of renewals is that they are sustainable—solar and
wind use natural, inexhaustible resources. Their large land use and material needs, however, like
rare earth minerals for wind turbines and lithium for batteries, create environmental concerns. A
1,000 MW nuclear power station requires approximately 1-4 square kilometers of land, while a
comparable solar farm might need 20-50 square kilometers. Additionally, the intermittency of
renewables can lead to increased reliance on fossil-fuel backup power, reducing their overall
carbon savings. Nuclear power provides consistent zero-carbon energy, ensuring stable emissions
reductions even as electricity demand fluctuates.
Cost is one of the important factors in energy planning. Nuclear power plants are costly to
construct, with high up-front capital expenses, primarily due to safety measures and extended
construction periods. But they have been generating low-cost electricity for decades, with
assured fuel costs. New small modular reactors (SMRs) are intended to reduce construction times
and costs, which can potentially make nuclear a viable option. Renewables have seen spectacular
price drops over the past few years, particularly in solar and wind. Yet, their incorporation into
the electricity grid entails huge investments in transmission and storage capacity. The result is
that the system cost of a renewables-based grid can be higher than expected. Possibly the greatest
economic challenge facing nuclear power is regulatory and public opinion issues. Previous
incidents such as Chornobyl and Fukushima have led to stringent safety regulations, which
stretch development timescales and expenses. Such barriers incur costs exponentially, and
Governments need to look at revisiting regulations to identify which regulations can be removed
without impacting safety.
Both nuclear and renewable energy technologies continue to evolve. Advances in nuclear power
include next-generation reactors such as SMRs and molten salt reactors, which promise
enhanced safety, efficiency, and lower costs. Fusion energy, though still in research stages, could
revolutionize energy production if successfully commercialized. If humanity ever achieves a
Nuclear Fusion reactor, we will have successfully cracked the energy equation, and we can run
the entire world on seawater with zero emissions. More research into fusion reactors is needed
regardless of which way the Government moves forward with its short and medium-term energy
policies.
From a technical perspective, an optimal energy strategy should incorporate both nuclear and
renewable energy to balance reliability, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. Given nuclear
power’s high-capacity factor and consistent output, it should play a significant role in baseload
power generation. Meanwhile, renewables should be expanded to use their sustainability and
declining costs, supplemented by advancements in energy storage and grid management. In
terms of energy and national security focuses a diverse grid provides more safety in case of
shutdowns or potential attacks. Countries should also unify their grids to increase the reliability
of the grid as a whole and better leverage the geographical advantages of renewables to lower the
baseload nuclear requirements.
A major problem in implementing a mixed nuclear renewable grid is that nuclear power is deeply
unpopular in the United States. Only 16 percent of adults think that we should build new
reactors. Only 29 percent of the population is in favor of nuclear energy, while nearly half of the
population is against it. Politically nuclear power is a touchy subject and something that
governments need to handle with care. More education on the safety of nuclear power could be
an option. Also continuing to build nuclear power plants away from residential areas to alleviate
fears is another option as well.
Economically in the energy market, nuclear power also faces numerous uphill challenges.
Nuclear power is expensive, extremely expensive. Multiple plants cost more to run than they
earn, and renewable energy costs have decreased significantly over the last decade. Nuclear
power costs between $112 to $189 per megawatt hour meanwhile solar costs between $36 and
$44. The market does not care about energy security and will build what is necessary to generate
a profit. Energy security is up to governments to think about, and whether or not a stable
continuous supply of energy is worth the subsidies that it may require. Nuclear power also
requires enormous upfront investments and time. Plants can take a decade to build, and cost
billions of dollars. Governments need to weigh the balance between security, reliability, cost, and
time in their energy policies moving forward.
Governments should promote the introduction of next-generation nuclear technologies like
SMRs and advanced reactors along with continued investments in renewables. A diversified
power mix will guarantee energy security combined with effective delivery of climate aims.
Policy programs need to incline towards a nuclear-renewable power mix augmented by research
and development incentives, grid modernization, and collaboration in energy innovation across
the globe. Governments must persuade their constituencies that nuclear is a good short and
medium-term solution.
World Nuclear Association. "Nuclear Power and Energy Security." Accessed April 2025.
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/economic-aspects/nuclear-power-andenergy-security.
Boston Review. "Is Nuclear Power Our Best Bet Against Climate Change?" Accessed
April 2025. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/is-nuclear-power-our-best-bet-againstclimate-change/.
International Energy Agency. "Nuclear Energy in the Clean Energy Transition" Accessed
April 2025. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear-energy-in-the-clean-energytransition
U.S. Department of Energy. "Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions." Accessed April
2025. https://www.energy.gov/eere/renewable-energy.
Ramos, Daniel, Adrián Morales, Pedro Linares, and Julio Lumbreras. “Comparing the
Role of Nuclear and Renewable Energy in Decarbonizing Power Generation in Europe.”
Renewable Energy 204 (June 2023): 354–64.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.01.031.
ITER. "The Advantages of Fusion." ITER, accessed March 27, 2025.
https://www.iter.org/fusion-energy/advantages-fusion.