Sustafinlability of nuclear and non-nuclear energy supply options in Europe

In the course of the current discussion on promoting the economical competitiveness of sustainable energy systems, especially renewable and non-CO2-intensive ones, interest in nuclear energy has re-awakened in Europe ("nuclear renaissance"). This paper starts with presenting the concept of energy sustainability and its main elements. Next, an overview of the main results of sustainability assessments for different energy supply options (nuclear, fossil, renewables) covering full energy chains is given. Nuclear energy's typical strong and weak points are identified from a sustainability point of view. On the basis of these results, it is argued that more emphasis on nuclear energy's (very good) total cost performance, i.e. incl. externalities, rather than on its (very good) contribution to combating climate change would stronger benefit its "renaissance". Finally, the development of an overall EU-wide framework is proposed in order to assess the sustainability performance of alternative energy supply options, met. nuclear, across their lifecycle and thus support decision making on developing sustainable energy mixes.