George Washington
(Found beneath a portrait of George Washington in the school of Westville, an 1850 village near Lumpkin, Georgia, USA)
Professor H. de Waard, physicist, 1980
The Dutch Association for Nuclear Power
Who are we?
The Foundation Kernvisie unites a number of people with various technical skills and backgrounds. The inception of the foundation is a private initiative by independent individuals, with a sense of responsibility.
What are our targets?
Our main target is to increase public acceptance of nuclear power as a reliable and environmentally friendly source of energy. By means of public information we try to lift the taboo on nuclear power, to maintain the discussion and to stimulate the development and use of nuclear power.
Our motivation
Incomplete information and ignorance have resulted in a taboo on nuclear power. In some countries this taboo has led to an unfavourable situation. The building blocks of prosperity and welfare are a reliable energy production and clean potable water. Our concerns are based upon thorough analyses, that show a significant increase of the world's population and a related increase of energy consumption in the first half of this century. Also, the increasing need of potable fresh water requires a sufficient energy supply.
Energy equals: electricity and/or heat and/or fresh water, which are the building blocks for our peace, well-being and welfare.
Our strategy
The Foundation Kernvisie tries to achieve its targets by assembling people and organisations, who want to work together for an economically feasible and environmentally friendly system of energy supply for the 21st century. In particular the Foundation will promote further acceptance of nuclear power as one of the elements in the spectrum of energy conversion systems.
Nuclear power plant in Borssele, the Netherlands
Professor Dr. G. Manenschijn, ethyist, 2000
Status quo
At the moment our energy supply is secure. But what about the future? And what about the rest of the world? Yes, there will be energy in the future but what will be the costs of a kWh? The expected shortage of fresh water may be solved through the process of desalination of seawater, but this process needs energy at an affordable price. Besides, the growth of the world population will increase the demand for energy, which will need to be produced in an environmentally friendly and safe way. Our existing energy production systems will not be able to meet these increasing demands. Therefore no existing energy production system should be excluded from the solution of the problem. Future generations will have to use all of them. Biomass, solar and wind energy alone - though valuable sources - will not be able to meet this demand. Additional sources, such as nuclear power, will be needed.
Our Challenge
We will have to face our responsibility for the sake of future generations. Nuclear power can and should be used to meet the two most important challenges of the near future : security of the energy and fresh water supplies. Facilities using new nuclear technologies are conceivable, which are well suited for small scale energy production, co-generation and desalinisation of seawater. Radioactive waste is a concern to many people. Partly because of a backlog of information and misinformation. Many are not aware of the new developments that decrease the amount of waste that results from nuclear energy conversion. The efforts must continue and increase, leading to the reduction of radioactive waste during the actual energy conversion process, to re-use the waste of previous types of nuclear reactors in more sophisticated nuclear reactors and to reduce the life of components in the radioactive waste which can not be re-used anymore. New methods or techniques should not be discarded because of possible risks. The potential of these innovations should be explored without neglecting safety. All these aspects should be compared with the consequences of other choices for our supply of energy. In this way a balanced combination of energy production options can be established.
Our knowledge and skills
In the Netherlands there still is a lot of knowledge and skill available in the nuclear sectors to develop the nuclear option, most likely with international co-operation. The Foundation wants to use this know-how to stimulate the development of nuclear technology and to further public support. We are convinced that this is essential for establishing the security of the energy supply in the 21st century.
Current nuclear power technology has proved to be successful. Today 17% of all electricity is produced safely by nuclear power plants. For the Netherlands the share of nuclear is just 4%, but for France the percentage is 76%, and in Belgium it is 57%. The Foundation favours the development of a power generating facility consisting of a gas turbine and a nuclear heat source. It is common understanding that this type of engine is well suited for the markets that need small scale energy production facilities. Moreover, the facility is inherently safe. This type of power plant can contribute to the prosperity of people world-wide.
If you want to support us and our ideals, contact our secretariat:
Stichting Kernvisie, Huzarenlaan 15, 7215 ED Joppe
Tel.: 0575-492292, fax.: 0575-491564
E-mail: kernvisie@kernvisie.com
Website: www.kernvisie.com