Preparing for nuclear power

HAVING MADE clear its intention to make nuclear power part of Jamaica’s energy mix, the Holness administration must urgently open a robust conversation with the public to explore the economics of the plan and address any fears people might have about pursuing this idea.

Indeed, it is too often the case that governments, including Jamaica’s, embark upon policies that prove controversial, when they might have avoided pitfalls by engaging their public early. That must not happen with this initiative.

When Prime Minister Andrew Holness raised the nuclear power question at the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s trade exposition earlier this month, there was a sense that the idea was at best embryonic that the government was merely beginning to explore the possibility of introducing either micro and/or small modular nuclear reactors to generate power. However, in his contribution to Parliament’s Sectoral Debate a fortnight later, the energy and technology minister, Daryl Vaz, indicated that the government was far farther along than floating the policy. Not only was it a definitive plan, it was already actively working on how to bring it to fruition.

Indeed, a section of Mr Vaz’s speech is headed: ‘Jamaica to go nuclear’. And according to the minister, the administration has been investigating the issue for two years, has had significant discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and is now preparing a road map for how to proceed fully, including the mobilisation of international funding for the project.

“This way, we can ensure that as the first SMR (small modular reactor) and MMR (micro modular reactor) technologies commercialise across global markets, Jamaica is well positioned to take the lead and transition into this new era of energy production powered by a reliable, zero-carbon and cost-effective energy source, where we would no longer be dependent on costly fossil fuel imports or impacted by vulnerabilities of supply chain disruptions, a future where we can preserve our environment and ensure that our nation is resilient and self-sufficient,” Mr Vaz said.

This newspaper fully appreciates the government’s wish to liberate Jamaica from the economic volatility of the fossil fuel industry, while at the same time further minimising Jamaica’s contribution to Earthwarming carbon emissions.

GLOBAL TREND

In going nuclear, Jamaica would be part of a global trend, especially in Europe, of re-embracing nuclear energy, accelerated by the continent’s wish to end its reliance on oil and gas from Russia in the face of sanctions placed on Moscow for the Ukraine war.

France and Germany, especially, have either reversed or slowed their plans to close nuclear plants, and a technology once deemed as dangerous and unsafe for the planet is now gaining a new respectability as ‘green’.

Moreover, the emergence of new, apparently cost-effective technologies in the form of small modular reactors, which can deliver from a few tens up 300 megawatts of power to firms, communities or national grids, have raised interest in nuclear power in developing countries, including in the Americas and island states where atomic energy was previously frowned upon. Indeed, a 1980s plan by Cuba to build a nuclear power plant faced major pushbacks in the hemisphere, geopolitical and otherwise.

Of course, the application of nuclear technology is not new to Jamaica. The International Centre for Environment and Nuclear Sciences has been active at The University of the West Indies, Mona, for four decades, using a Canadian-developed, low-energy (rated at 20 Kw operating at full power) Slowpoke II reactor in research and the development of applications for environmental health, and plant and food safety.

However, operating a low-power research nuclear reactor in a largely academic setting is unlikely to be perceived as the same as using one for the industrial generation of electricity for the national grid. And while the literature (mostly by companies who have designed and are now marketing them) have touted the efficiency and safety of these reactors, only a handful, primarily in Russia and China, are actually in operation and commercially generating power.

BROADENING DISCUSSION

In that context, Mr Vaz’s suggestion that Jamaica intends to be in the forefront on embracing these technologies, once they are “commercialised across global markets”, makes it urgent that there is no delay in broadening the discussion on ‘going nuclear’. New technologies sometimes offer more than they deliver. Put differently, being among the early purchasers of first-generation products, before the design flaws and other kinks are ironed out, carries risks, which it is important that Jamaica minimises.

These issues are not only about the inherent safety of the plants. Indeed, the IAEA has been reviewing designs and establishing operating protocols for them. Jamaica has to be technically ready for them.

Further, the discussion around small modular reactors must fit within the country’s larger energy strategy. For example, it should be disclosed early what proportion of the country’s electricity mix is expected to come from atomic power, and whether it will mean any displacement of the proposed, traditional renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.