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| Prepared by: | Lee Hudson Teslik |
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Countries are lining up to build nuclear plants, but their economic viability remains uncertain. (AP/Petr David Josek)
While ethanol captures the imagination of energy officials in the Western Hemisphere, a familiar fuel source—nuclear power—appears to be stirring excitement on an even broader scale. Take Asia, where eighteen new plants are under construction and about 110 more are planned (Uranium Information Center), due in part to voracious demand from China, India, Japan, and South Korea. Or take the Middle East, where Iran's pursuit of a nuclear program has spurred oil titan Saudi Arabia to launch its own system (NYT) of nuclear reactors that would span the Persian Gulf region. Egypt also wants to tap nuclear energy (BBC), as do Turkey and Jordan. “The rules have changed (Haaretz) on the nuclear subject,” said Jordan’s King Abdullah in a recent interview. “Everybody's going for nuclear programs.”
Of course, nuclear energy is also back in favor in the United States. “A secure energy future for America must include more nuclear power,” said President Bush in his 2006 State of the Union address. At the time of the president’s speech, no new reactor had been built in the United States since 1996. Now one decommissioned nuclear reactor is being brought back into operation, and electrical utility companies are considering twenty three additional possible reactor projects (FT).
A confluence of factors has made nuclear power suddenly more popular. Leading the list is Bush’s goal of energy independence, which requires reducing oil imports. No less significant is the drive to counteract global warming and cut back on energy sources that produce carbon gas. A new report from the Center for Naval Analyses points out that these goals can be interrelated, noting that climate change may well present a serious national security threat. More basically, the world faces a severe energy crunch. Economist Jeffrey D. Sachs writes in a May 2007 Scientific American article that the size of the world economy must increase by a factor of four to six by 2050 to accommodate population growth. At the same time, Sachs says, “global emissions of greenhouse gases will have to remain steady or decline to prevent dangerous changes to the climate.”
Nuclear power promises to factor into this tricky equation, but it’s no magic bullet. Far from it, argues a new Council Special Report. The report says nuclear energy is unlikely to play a major role either in bolstering U.S. energy security or countering climate change. In fact, the report argues, expanding U.S. nuclear facilities fast enough to stem climate change would undermine energy security: “To realistically address global warming, the nuclear industry would have to expand at such a rapid rate as to pose serious concerns for how the industry would ensure an adequate supply of reasonably inexpensive reactor-grade construction materials, well-trained technicians, and rigorous safety and security measures.” Testifying before Congress on April 18, CFR's President Richard N. Haass said the United States faces major “hurdles to maintaining, much less increasing” the percentage of American electricity produced by nuclear power plants.
Similar concerns are echoed in a 2003 MIT study on nuclear energy’s prospects. The study concludes nuclear energy faces four major competitive obstacles: high costs; perceived safety, environmental, and health effects; the security risks of proliferation; and unanswered questions about managing nuclear waste. These factors in mind, a special report from the Economist makes the case that governments should not fund nuclear projects, but rather should let the market decide.
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Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
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Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
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