The opposition to developing a nuclear power plant at Carnsore Point in the 1970s and 1980s made it clear that it was a toxic subject in Ireland. Opposition became such that indigenous nuclear power generation in the State became legally prohibited in 1999.
With energy security and climate targets as hot topics of debate, the question has been revisited. It’s not quite yet at whether Ireland should build a nuclear power plant or not, but it has definitely reached the stage where people are questioning if the outright ban should be upheld.
“I believe Ireland should reconsider its ban on nuclear,” says Paul Cosgrove, research associate in nuclear energy at Cambridge University. “Between both climate change and energy security, I don’t think it’s a good idea to remove an energy option from the table by a political decision taken under very different circumstances.”
Lifting the ban would only be the first step in what would undoubtedly be a lengthier process than both advocates and opponents of nuclear power might realise.
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“The legal prohibition can be reconsidered but it’s far from the only challenge we face. Ireland would need to develop regulatory frameworks and an independent regulatory agency,” says Prof Andrew Keane, director of the Energy Institute at UCD.
“Ireland is what the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] would call a newcomer country. There are 19 infrastructural challenges that countries without nuclear programmes would face in developing them. We have not cleared any of those 19, we’d be starting from scratch.”
That Ireland is in a situation where it would need to start from scratch if it were to consider the nuclear option is exactly why Cosgrove believes the ban should be lifted.
“My own belief is that nuclear could be a valuable contributor to Ireland’s energy portfolio. If the ban is lifted, beginning the assessment process sooner rather than later would preserve more policy options and be better for our decarbonisation prospects,” he says.
The strongest arguments in favour of developing a nuclear programme largely rest on the State’s energy security.
“In terms of our electricity interconnector with Britain, we already import a degree of nuclear-powered electricity. In the coming years we’ll have an interconnector to France, which also has a significant amount of nuclear power,” says Keane.
Importing nuclear power is quite different from having indigenously developed nuclear energy.
“I believe that the geopolitical situation makes it more difficult to rely on interconnectors to solve our energy problems; being able to produce reliable energy indigenously greatly strengthens our security,” says Cosgrove.
While home grown nuclear power offers energy security, it’s a far more onerous ask of the State than importing it.
“Thinking about indigenous nuclear power is an entirely different proposition. Alongside the regulatory hurdles, there are questions around siting, waste disposal, and technology challenges,” says Keane.
The counter argument is that the long operating life of nuclear power hubs tends to make them worth consideration.
“It is a low-carbon and low-footprint technology, deployed globally, that has decades of operating experience. Once deployed, a single nuclear plant is a robust energy asset that will operate for up to a century,” says Cosgrove.
Were Ireland to lift the ban, the logical type of reactor for the State to consider would be an emerging technology in the nuclear space.
“There’s a lot of attention on modular reactors, an emerging technology that is smaller in scale and may be more appropriate for Ireland. Our analysis indicates that’s still at a relatively immature stage. As a newcomer country, it’s going to be 15 to 20 years before that’s viable for Ireland,” says Keane.
That timing is particularly relevant when considering Ireland’s targets for reducing carbon outputs by 2050.
“If you think of Ireland’s targets for a low carbon energy system, we don’t foresee nuclear being able to play a role for 2050. That’s not to say we shouldn’t look at it but there’s a range of actions that can be taken now that should be prioritised instead,” says Keane.
There’s also the matter of where and how Ireland would develop any kind of nuclear energy hub.
“There’s a need for a comprehensive techno-economic feasibility study on the potential for nuclear power in Ireland. That would provide more clarity on the potential pathways and assist policy decision makers on how to proceed,” says Keane.
Cosgrove similarly wants substantial research to be conducted, viewing the lifting of the prohibition as necessary for such assessment to be worthwhile.
“Once the ban is lifted, Ireland should first undertake an independent pre-feasibility assessment of nuclear following the IAEA milestones approach,” he says.
Of course, any serious debate around the potential use of nuclear power can’t just come down to engineering and economics. The public view on this historically contentious issue has to be considered.
“We’d also need a proper study in terms of social acceptance so we can see where society stands on the issue as well,” says Keane.
