In a recent Newstalk Breakfast segment, Professor Emeritus Barry McMullin from the DCU Faculty of Engineering and Computing talked about some of the concepts for introducing nuclear reactors as producers of energy for Ireland, and what we could expect if such a concept were to be implemented. 

Professor Emeritus Barry McMullin from the DCU Faculty of Engineering and Computing.

Nuclear energy in recent history has become synonymous with military and weapon use, as well as being related to fatal events in the past of workers and people living in the vicinity of these reactors, so it is understandable why the Irish public would be wary of the production of reactors on our shores. 

Legitimate concerns

Prof Barry McMullin said: “We’ve learnt quite a lot about nuclear. There are legitimate concerns so it would be a big job of work to gain social licence in Ireland. On the safety side, safety has improved, obviously there have been incidents, but relative to other energy sources, a lot more people have died mining coal than have ever died from civilian nuclear power.”

Compared to previous concepts, the current iteration looks at the possibility of working with a repeat manufacturer to ensure consistency across the production of the power plants while also making them smaller in size. This in turn would make them cheaper and easier to employ as well as being safer than the larger plants. 

“It [waste] is certainly an issue, but you have to put it side by side with our current energy waste problem called carbon dioxide. We’re churning it out in huge quantities, it’s destabilising the entire global climate system. By comparison to that, the waste from nuclear power stations is very compact, in mass terms, it’s tiny compared to the mass of carbon dioxide we produce, and it’s much easier to store.” 

There will always be a reason not to choose nuclear power whether it’s safety, waste, or social licence, the fact evident from the interview with Prof McMullin is that the need to find an alternative to carbon emissions is imminent and requires our full attention. 

Listen to the interview here: https://www.goloudplayer.com/episodes/should-ireland-consider-the-use--MGZmYThkYmI4NjZiNzBmYmFmODgwY2ZhYTVkMmQwZmU=