Myths about Nuclear Power

Nuclear Myths

Many people believe that nuclear power is the solution to the world's energy needs. This is often due to misinformation and half-knowledge. Because there is a lot to be said against it: For example, reactor disasters, the globally unresolved question of where to store highly radioactive nuclear waste, and the problematic extraction of uranium as the basis for nuclear power. The fact is that uranium has been radioactive for thousands of years and is therefore harmful to humans and the environment. So what is there to the idea that nuclear power is helpful and good for the future?

Nuclear Power as a Lifeline in Times of Crisis?

In politics, nuclear power is seen as a climate-friendly solution to the energy crisis: The European Union (EU) even classified nuclear power as “sustainable” in 2022. France, the third-largest operator of nuclear power plants (NPPs) after the USA and China, was particularly keen to achieve this. At the 2023 World Climate Conference in Dubai, the nuclear lobby announced the goal of tripling nuclear power capacity by 2050. And at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels in March 2024, the representatives of the more than 30 participating nuclear states confirmed this target.

The reality is different.

When new nuclear power plants are built, the projects get out of hand: they cost many times more than originally planned and their construction takes considerably longer than planned. The additional costs are usually borne by taxpayers, i.e. the general public. The sluggish nuclear power plants are also hardly compatible with a renewable energy system.

Nevertheless, half-truths and untruths about nuclear power persist right up to the highest political circles and dominate the debates about the future of this energy source. We use facts and figures to show what is true about the myths surrounding the topic.

by Franza Drechsel and Horst Hamm

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