Christian von Hirschhausen

The development of nuclear power was motivated by a geopolitical conflict, concretely World War II, and the race towards nuclear weapons in that conflict. Until today, the sector is still dominated by geopolitical considerations, even though the commercial uses are much more talked about in public. This chapter provides an overview of the role of nuclear power in geopolitical conflicts since the 1940s, and it summarizes the literature on classifying the countries that have or aspire to have nuclear weapons, and/or use nuclear power for commercial energy production. To do so, the paper traces the origins of nuclear power as the “child of science & warfare,” summarizes the history of the “first” and the “second” atomic age, describes the 40 or so nuclear countries, and explains main motivations of new entrant countries (“newbies”). We conclude that the geopolitical aspects of nuclear power are dominant and should receive more weight in discussions dominated by commercial nuclear power.

Although plutonium has been studied by different disciplines (such as technology and innovation studies, political sciences) since its discovery, back in 1940 at the University of California (Berkeley), the resource, environmental, and energy economic literature is still relatively scarce. However, interest in the topic is increasing, driven by a variety of factors. Thus, in the context of the low-carbon energy transformation and climate change mitigation, interest in so-called new reactor concepts (i.e., non light-water), supposedly to become competitive in some near time span, is rising, not only in Russia and China, but also in the US, Japan, Korea, and Europe. This chapter provides a review of resource and environmental economic issues related to plutonium, and asks whether after decades of unsuccessful attempts to use plutonium for electricity generation, have resource and energy economic conditions changed sufficiently to reverse this result? In the analytical framework, we report on determinants of the value of plutonium by comparing it with the economics of the traditional nuclear energy, the light-water reactor using a once-through fuel process. Three questions emerge and are addressed subsequently: (1) can plutonium benefit from shortages and binding constraints on uranium supply for light-water nuclear power plants?; (2) can future nuclear fast reactors become competitive through standardized mass production (“SMR”-reactors); and (3) can plutonium be efficiently abated? The chapter concludes that there are no indications of more favorable economic conditions for the commercial deployment of plutonium.

With its vast array of interlinked processes and assets, providing nuclear fission energy is a highly complex undertaking. In this chapter, we define nuclear power as a so-called system good following the definition of Beckers et al. (2012). We first provide an overview of the technical system of each of the main components of the nuclear system good, i.e., (i) the front-end, comprising of mining, enrichment, and fuel fabrication, (ii) the middle section, i.e., the construction, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, (iii) the back-end, consisting of interim and final storage of nuclear waste and reprocessing, and (iv) the military sector. For the first three sections, corresponding to so-called civil applications of nuclear power, we then provide detailed organizational models and identify underlying actors, thereby highlighting the substantial level of state involvement across the whole system good. This chapter provides an overview of the processes and assets required to provide energy from nuclear fission and serves as a basis for the remaining chapters that delve deeper into the different parts of the system good.

Solar prosumers, residential electricity consumers equipped with photovoltaic (PV) systems and battery storage, are transforming electricity markets. Their interactions with the transmission grid under varying tariff designs are not yet fully understood. We explore the influence of different pricing regimes on prosumer investment and dispatch decisions and their subsequent impact on the transmission grid. Using an integrated modeling approach that combines two open-source dispatch, investment and grid models, we simulate prosumage behavior in Germany's electricity market under real-time pricing or time-invariant pricing, as well as under zonal or nodal pricing. Our findings show that zonal pricing favors prosumer investments, while time-invariant pricing rather hinders it. In comparison, regional solar availability emerges as a larger driver for rooftop PV investments. The impact of prosumer strategies on grid congestion remains limited within the scope of our model-setup, in which home batteries cannot be used for energy arbitrage.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, established in 2015, aim to achieve global sustainability by 2030 through the improvement of environmental, social, and economic parameters. However, unlike earlier concepts such as the Agenda 21 of 1992, the SDGs overlook radioactive waste management and related challenges of radiation itself. First, we investigate the historic consideration and unexplained disappearance of radioactive waste in earlier sustainability concepts. Then, we propose amending seven SDGs to address this gap. For SDGs 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (Life on Land), new or revised indicators should monitor the release of hazardous materials. SDGs 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) require additional targets and indicators to integrate international cooperation and social implications of nuclear facilities' operation. Redefining “hazardous waste” in SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and “environmentally sound technologies” in SDG 17 is necessary to encompass radioactive waste. Implementing these changes demands statistical efforts, but the existing monitoring infrastructure, particularly in Europe and North America, can facilitate this. As 2030 approaches, it is crucial to reintroduce radioactive waste management into sustainability agendas, whether within the SDGs themselves or in a subsequent framework.