Nuclear Energy: Generation IV. The Issues Raised by the New Generations of Nuclear Power Plants

World energy supplies face three constraints in the long term: rapidly growing demand from developing countries, gradual exhaustion of fossil fuel stocks and limits on greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Kyoto accords signed in 1997. If one adds to that the desire of more and more governments to ensure a minimum level of secure supplies, the equation becomes even harder to solve. Basing their discussion on a range of recent scenarios for energy prospects, Frank Carré and Jean-Claude Petit stress the growing need – in addition to checking energy consumption – to have recourse to non-carbon energy sources in order to safeguard the possibilities of sustainable development. They argue that, of all the options, nuclear energy is the best because it does not create greenhouse gases, it guarantees genuine independence of supply and stable prices. As this article shows, more and more industrialized countries (e.g. the United States, France and Japan) have understood this and are investing in energy policies based on nuclear power both domestically and internationally. Turning to technical matters, the authors describe the successive generations of nuclear power plants built since the 1950s; they also outline the generations of the future, in particular the fourth generation, currently being studied at international level. Lastly, they describe what factors (economics, safety, waste management, etc.) influenced the designs ultimately chosen for the fourth generation of plants, which are not expected to be in operation before 2040. According to the authors, the nuclear option is the most viable in the long run, from every point of view. However, since short-term issues matter most to both investors in and producers of electricity, the public authorities will have to actively promote it over the next half-century or so.