“Nuclear power provides an abundant quantity of energy and in many countries provides more energy security or an uninterrupted availability of energy for consumption. It is also able to produce a lot of clean energy within a small surface, as compared to the surface needed by solar or wind power.”
By CIEN Editorial Board
When one asks Chilean people about this matter perhaps the first answer would be “are you crazy?”, “impossible, nuclear power is dangerous” or “have you ever seen the consequences related with nuclear accidents that have happened in the past?”. However, most people don’t know that nuclear power (a concept that refers to electric generation applications of nuclear energy) is one of the cleanest energy sources in the world, as it doesn’t release carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and therefore it helps to fight against climate change. Besides, nuclear power provides an abundant quantity of energy and in many countries provides more energy security or an uninterrupted availability of energy for consumption. It is. The following paragraphs will show some key issues related to nuclear energy and how the relationship is with Chile, as well as some steps that the Chilean government would have to take in the medium or long term, if the authorities finally decide to work on this matter seriously.
In Chile although there were many attempts in the sixties and seventies to setup nuclear power plants, one near San Antonio and the another one near Antofagasta, none could be completed/realized for many reasons that mainly involved political and economic issues. The Chilean economic crisis in the beginning of eighties and Chernobyl’s nuclear disaster in 1986 froze many ideas and wills to develop nuclear power around the world, including in Chile. However, Chile carried out a kind of nuclear energy programme on a small scale to install two research reactors both in Santiago, one called “La Reina or RECH-1” in La Reina and the another one called “Lo Aguirre or RECH-2” near Tunel Lo Prado. So far, the reactor called RECH-1 is the only one that is currently working and it is able to produce several radioisotopes for many uses such as medical applications, farming applications, mining or industrial applications, irradiating food to disinfect it, etcetera.
Therefore, nuclear energy is not only used for electric generation, it is used in many situations of our life as well. On the other hand, around the world there are about four hundred and thirty two nuclear power reactors currently working in several countries as USA, Japan, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, among others. In addition, there are many countries that have recently decided to implement nuclear power as a clean option to fight against climate change and get a lot of energy in a sustainable manner, for example Poland, Vietnam, Nigeria or Jordan. But in Chile the reality is pretty different.
So, what can be done to change this situation? First, the Chilean government should work to put knowledge related to nuclear energy and its several peaceful uses (including nuclear power) because people do not know the real concept of nuclear energy and the benefit and risk of it. The idea is to break myths around this concept as well. For example, people do not know that if they are flying in a plane they receive more radiation at levels compared with some areas in Chernobyl and if they eat a banana, they receive radiation because of one unstable isotope: Potassium-40. Therefore, radiation is part of nature and it can’t be avoided, so people need to be aware of that and to accept that every atom and its energy is part of the environment. Second, the government with academic support should increase the level of Chilean human capital in nuclear energy or nuclear power, through more training in Chile as well as abroad. For this, the country should establish international agreements with several universities, international organizations related with this field, companies in the world that offer nuclear power, companies that build nuclear reactors and another devices, etcetera. This is very important because this can reduce the gap that exists in Chile of technical education in nuclear power or nuclear energy. Then Chile should have initiatives that help different stakeholders to discuss the key matters and myths in a respectful way with tolerance and empathy, not passion or anger.
There are a lot of myths about the atom and its energy that are increased by terror movies, wrong information in several websites, a lot of press articles, etcetera. Finally, once people have real knowledge and can make their own opinion, the government could decide if Chile can/should or can/should not implement this energy source through several initiatives that could involve the participation of different stakeholders which will depend on the social, political and economic context in Chile.
It is time to talk about this issue and to not be afraid because the world needs initiatives that help to fight against climate change through different energy sources including the implementation of nuclear power. Chile as well as many countries in the world cannot avoid the consequences of climate change, therefore it is time to take radical actions to benefit the next generations.