It is generally acknowledged, although in some quarters very reluctantly, that civilian nuclear power has a substantial part to play in reaching the global ambition of carbon neutrality, or net-zero emissions, by 2050.
The year 2050 is the point, so the forecasts tell us, beyond which climate disruption — already showing its ugly face in current heat waves, floods and fires around the world — turns into an all-out calamity as global temperatures rise to intolerable levels, unless greenhouse gas emissions are somehow curbed. The decarbonization of power supplies is central to this task and a strong nuclear contribution is vital to ensuring that end.
How some countries, such as Germany, which is phasing out all nuclear power, are ever going to get near to carbon net-zero remains a mystery.