15 Sep (NucNet): The European Union should explain to citizens that without nuclear energy the region’s climate goals will not be achieved, Andrei Rozhdestvin, director of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s operations in France, told NucNet.
Mr Rozhdestvin said around one third of electricity in Europe comes from coal and another third from nuclear.
“If you remove one of those, the other will have to cover the gap. With coal and gas, it is not possible to meet climate goals. If we want to get rid of nuclear, we will have to accept climate change as a fact.”
The EU’s 2030 climate and energy goals include a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, at least a 27 percent% share of renewable energy consumption, and at least 27 percent energy savings.
He said that “perhaps in 10 years” there will be improvements in energy storage technology which can help develop a grid based on renewables without the need for other technologies. “But for the moment this is not technically possible,” he said.
Mr Rozhdestvin said emerging markets and developing countries should not be forgotten because their choices of energy will have an impact on global climate change. “They cannot wait for this technology to be developed because they urgently need electricity.”
He said in China, more than 60 percent of energy comes from coal and it is one of the most polluted places on the planet.
“We have to understand that Europe is not an island and climate change is going to affect all of us.“
"We need to talk about countries like China and the countries in Africa which do not have alternatives – their choice is between coal and nuclear.”
