A positive future for our children, and their children, and so forth, requires that we always work towards increased sustainability.
This demands a future where we have to use less total amount of energy, and we have to use only sustainable energy sources.
All energy sources damage the environment to a greater or lesser extent. All energy sources are more or less dependent of limited resources taken from our planet. We need to conserve energy and find new ways to increase energy efficiency using only truly sustainable energy sources.
To use energy in a really long term and in sustainable ways is not easy, for example:
If a country only use bioenergy sources from forestry and make sure that the annual logging always equals the annual growth of new forest, then the netto effect of carbon emission to the atmosphere will be zero and this will have no negative effects on the climate. But there will still be negative effects from this on the environment because the burning of biofuels emits toxic substances. If we use for example filters to reduce the toxic substances emitted to the atmosphere, then they will be concentrated in the filters and does not automatically disappear from our environment according to the mass balance principles. This will then only be sustainable in long term if nature each year manage to break down the same amount of these toxic substances that are emitted each year. That is probably only the case if that country should use a very little total amount of energy compared to the total energy amount countries uses in average today.
The most important conclusion then is: We have to use much less total amount of energy. Otherwise we will never reach long term sustainability! And all countries need to cooperate to make this possible to avoid economic collapses in doing this! Maybe this is a utopia but this is anyway needed to be able to reach long term sustainability!
Nuclear power is definitely not a sustainable energy source!
In long term nuclear power is very expensive. Especially if all future cost caused by it should be considered from the beginning, which seldom is the case, and very many future generations have to deal with all the disadvantages that come with this energy source, for example:
(1) Consider all the processes from the mining of uranium that irreversibly destroy huge land volumes, to the radioactive waste that nuclear power finally produces. A nuclear waste that will be buried in the ground and will be radioactive for several hundred thousands of years. During this huge timespan it will very probably, sooner or later, pollute huge future land volumes and future fresh water supplies. No living soul today can guarantee it will not do so during this huge timespan. Also we can’t be sure that we’ll have a robust society that can handle this waste in future.
(2) Add to this the nuclear meltdowns that already have occurred, due to human mistakes and due to natural catastrophes. Each new nuclear power station will increase the risks for nuclear meltdowns in the world.
(3) Add to this the large volumes of land that already have been destroyed by the mining for uranium itself, and by the mining for other needed products used in the refining of uranium. How big volumes of land should be allowed to be irreversibly destroyed by all this mining in future? Read this:
https://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Talvivaara_mine:_environmental_disaster_in_Finland
(4) Nuclear power stations may also be main targets for terrorists, and they are also main targets in war time. We already see this with the russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
(5) Nuclear power stations are centralized energy systems easy to completely shut down by an enemy in war time. A society based on nuclear power is a very vulnerable society, and also creates a labor market for the few. On the opposite other decentralized truly sustainable and local energy systems, should be more difficult to completely shut down in war times. They could be decentralized in small units working more or less independently of each other. The use of such local energy system should also be able to create a labor market for more people, (for most people). Which means a more friendly and not so vulnerable society.
Why take all these risks and costs with nuclear power when cheaper and sustainable alternative energy sources and techniques already exists, and new ones could be developed?
Nuclear power is therefore no alternative for the future. This is not a political issue, it’s just common sense.
It’s very tragic to see the recent political trend in Sweden and in many other countries where increased mining and increased use of nuclear power are on the main agenda, and strange enough seem to be very popular too. Driven by the government and powerful people with self-interests in nuclear power. They probably benefit themselves by doing so. The recent political will is then to continue the overexploitation of the planet’s natural resources as if there are no environmental problems involved with this. As if we have several planets. We can then continue living our lives now, continue this irresponsibility, to irreversibly destroy more and more land volumes, pollute the environment, and continue to use more and more energy, and completely disregard the generations that will live after us. To use nuclear power and to increase the total used amount of energy, are far from any sustainability. In long term very unethical and expensive.
To use less amount of energy is not on the current political agenda. This is the easiest way for politicians now, but a very unethical policy concerning our grandchildren and their children and so forth…
Some links related to recent nuclear power related disasters:
https://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Talvivaara_mine:_environmental_disaster_in_Finland
https://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/
For Swedish readers:
Read this:
https://www.chalmers.se/aktuellt/nyheter/framtidens-elsystem-med-och-utan-ny-karnkraft/
And these:
https://www.greenpeace.org/sweden/artiklar/energi/sex-skal-till-varfor-karnkraft-inte-ar-vagen-till-en-gron-och-fredlig-varld/: Sustainability & Nuclear Power