Impact of climate change on nuclear

On northern latitudes climate change is accelerating faster and temperature rises are stronger than the global average. Rising temperatures are driving other climate changes such as changing precipitation, wind and cloudiness. Climate change will affect the energy sector in different ways. The vulnerability of the energy system is likely to increase, and the production potential changes. The electricity grid is affected, and the energy demand changes. An increasing share of renewable energy sources further enhances the climate dependency.

In the Energiforsk project "Climate-change impact on the energy system", Profu, SMHI, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute and Chalmers University of Technology have together analyzed how a changed climate can affect the energy sector. The project has included impacts on hydropower, wind power, nuclear power, bioenergy, electricity networks as well as energy use, district heating and district cooling. Reports summarizing the results of the main project are found here (in Swedish).

As part of this project an in-depth study of the impact of climate effects on nuclear has been made in cooperation with nuclear power plant experts. The results show that nuclear is in general well prepared to meet the effects of a changing climate. Continuous stress tests and analyses following incidents worldwide have ensured the redundancy and robustness of the Nordic nuclear power plants.The report from the in-depth study on nuclear is found here.

A summary of the overall results of the main project and all the results relating to the in-depth study on nuclear was presented in English at this webinar. You can access the slides and videos from the links in the program below.

Program

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