Nuclear energy is the long-term solution to Israel's energy needs, a forum of energy experts has determined. The forum warns against reliance on natural gas as a main source of energy for power production. In a position paper prepared ahead of Tuesday's Herzliya Conference session on planning Israel's electricity economy for the year 2030, the experts state that renewable energy sources --- sun, wind, and water --- are too expensive and insufficiently reliable. The tenth Herzliya Conference of the Israel Democracy Institute will open tomorrow at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
"In strategic reliance on gas as a main source for producing energy there are considerable planning and operating problems," the position paper says. "In general, generating electricity with gas is considered less reliable than generating it with coal." The experts say that the gas transport system is vulnerable because it is "sensitive to leaks, to falls in pressure, to outbreaks of fire, and particularly to security incidents."
On the other hand, the position paper states that there was a consensus among the professionals who took part in the discussion on the need to develop the capacity to produce electricity using nuclear energy. However, constructing a nuclear reactor for electricity production in Israel involves some large challenges. Israel is not capable of carrying out a project of this kind by itself, and it would therefore have to buy a reactor as an off-the-shelf product from one of only two manufacturers: Areva of France or Westinghouse on the US. These two companies are currently prevented from supplying the equipment and know-how for constructing a reactor because Israeli is not a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), but the experts believe that "it is possible to reach an arrangement that will circumvent Israel's non-membership of the treaty regime," and cite the example of India. Several countries have signed cooperation agreements with India on nuclear energy despite the fact that India has not signed the NPT.
However, the experts hedge their findings and recommend postponing the use of nuclear energy as much as possible, until new technology, known as "fourth generation reactor technology", matures. This technology is considered to be safer and to have less environmental impact, generating less nuclear waste. The technology is expected to be operational towards 2030. Until then, the experts propose raising the amount of electricity produced from existing sources through limited expansion of production using gas and coal, more efficient usage and installation of a smart grid, and additional use of renewable energy sources.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 31, 2010
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