ITRE

Motion for a Resolution by

The Committee on Industry, Research and Technology (ITRE)

Atomic future? “Accounting for over half of the EU’s carbon-free electricity, nuclear power is regarded by some as a key component of a sustainable energy production model. With divergent energy policies among Member States and an increasingly negative public opinion towards nuclear power, what stance should the EU adopt on the usage of nuclear power?” 

Submitted by: Thomas Celie (NL, Chairperson) and Pien Pelt (NL, Chairperson)

The European Youth Parliament,

  1. Anxious of Member States failing to achieve the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement1,
  2. Emphasising the importance to go carbon neutral2,
  3. Keeping in mind the existing measures aimed towards maintaining the safety, as well as limiting the misuse of nuclear material3,
  4. Aware of dangers and challenges that come with the use of nuclear energy including:
    1. dangerous nuclear waste, and its long-term management 
    2. the fear of disaster instilled in the public by previous nuclear accidents (e.g.,  Fukushima, Chernobyl)4
    3. the low level of factual information circulating in the public sphere
    4. the possibility of nuclear proliferation5,
  5. Observing the lack of initiative from organisations and investment plans such as EDGIP6 in financing the construction of highly advanced but expensive nuclear power plants, 
  6. Noting the current low priority status of research on safer and more efficient nuclear power plants, like thorium reactors7,
  7. Emphasising the current disadvantages of renewable energy sources such as:
    1. the inefficiency of the currently available methods
    2. the high price tag that is attached to implementing these methods
    3. the relatively high mortality caused by accidents during the production, installment and maintenance of hydro, solar and wind energy facilities;

  1. IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5°C.An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press.
  2.  Institute for Economics & Peace. Ecological Threat Register 2020: Understanding Ecological Threats, Resilience and Peace, Sydney, September 2020. Available from: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports (accessed 10 January 2021)
  3. Ciucci, M. (2020, November). Nuclear energy: Fact Sheets on the European Union: European Parliament. Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/62/nuclear-energy
  4. Kharecha, P. A., & Hansen, J. E. (2013). Prevented Mortality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Historical and Projected Nuclear Power. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(9), 4889-4895. doi:10.1021/es3051197
  5. What Is Nuclear Proliferation? (2020). Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://world101.cfr.org/global-era-issues/nuclear-proliferation/what-nuclear-proliferation
  6. Nuclear Power in the European Union. (2020). Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/others/european-union.aspx
  7. Thorium. (2020, November). Retrieved January 10, 2021, from https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/thorium.aspx