"We know how to generate tons of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, using a technology that’s already mature, widespread, and competitive with fossil fuels — and also, very controversial: nuclear power"
Why ISRATOM
Isratom was founded to address a topic close to our hearts: global warming.
In recent decades, we’ve witnessed natural phenomena manifested by abnormal temperature rises: fires raging in Australia and California; the melting of mighty glaciers that are thousands of years old, whether in the mountains or in the poles, which causes the surface to rise and may cause flooding of entire cities and countries along the coastal plain, such as the State of Israel.
The source of these phenomena is the abnormal accumulation of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, which blocks the heat escape generated on Earth and disrupts its temperature regulation. In many places, observe the intensification of the desertification process that is leading to a flare-up of conflicts over water and land for agriculture. And in certain areas, the melting temperatures have become so high that man cannot continue to exist.
What is the main cause of the greenhouse effect and how to fight it?
Man is in constant pursuit of energy sources to satisfy his needs.
The State of Israel supplies its electricity needs from a number of energy sources:
At the top of the list is gas (about 60%) and immediately followed by coal (24%), diesel (4%) –
In other words, 88% of the electricity in the country comes from fossil fuels and soot, and the rest from renewable energy (such as street and sun).
This causes the emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants that endanger public health and despite the growing share of renewable energies, it is not enough, because of two effects:
One, the population is growing: the State of Israel is expected to have about 20 million inhabitants by 2050.
The second reason is the increasing electricity consumption per capita.
Even today, electric vehicles that replace vehicles powered by fuel have a significant challenge for the electricity economy: how to meet the new needs without harming the existing supply?
But the real downside is how to break away from using polluting energy sources and replace them with clean energy sources.
The State of Israel has pledged to reach a rate of 30% in electricity generation from the renewable energies by 2030
On the renewable energies
While renewable energy reduce pollution significantly, they also have come with many challenges. One main disadvantage is that solar power farms consume huge areas. For example, in order to reach the rate that Israel has committed to, areas that are required will cover more than 3 times the size of the city of Tel Aviv. For this reason, most of the large solar farms are located in areas far from the central area where most of the electricity demand is located. Already some of the existing transmission lines are utilized to close to their capacity limit, so the establishment of new solar farms means additional transmission lines which also require more land.
A second disadvantage is that the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow, then no power can be generated.
We are working hard on electricity storage solutions and there are emerging technologies in the field, but they are still in initial stages.
So how can we act immediately to stop further global warming and ensure our continued existence, while satisfying our growing electricity needs?
Nuclear Power
Generating electricity by nuclear energy is a very common thing in developed countries.
Percentage of generated electricity from nuclear energy by country
Nuclear power plants operate at maximum efficiency 92% of the time
In France 70% of electricity comes from nuclear energy, Slovakia and Ukraine 50%, in Belgium 40%, in a variety of countries such as
Switzerland, South Korea or Finland between 30-40%. In the US or Russia 20%.
All of these countries are in the process of extending the life of the nuclear plants for another 50 years because they understand that
this is clean, sustainable energy that will ensure the supply of electricity to their populations for many more years while preserving the environment.
Why don’t we have electricity from a nuclear source in Israel?
In the 1970s, the State of Israel considered launching a nuclear plant to generate electricity, but this was cut short following a
dramatic event at a nuclear plant in 3 miles island in the US. Further events like Chernobyl in the 1980s or Fukushima in the 2000s following a huge tsunami that swept Japan, kind of stopped any further initiative in this direction.
But the nuclear field is constantly evolving: amazing technological development in recent years delivers much safer nuclear reactors.
The past dangers have been neutralized.
In 3rd generation reactors, cooling systems were required to regulate the heat generated as a result of the fission of uranium atoms, and
water-based cooling systems were used for this purpose. Water boils at 100 degrees and turns to steam. Therefore question fabrics will not escape, systems capable of holding the water in a liquid form- 300 degrees Celsius were required. This required systems capable of withstanding pressures of 3-4 times the atmospheric pressure.
Now, in many countries, 4th generation reactor are developed, operating on the basis of nuclear fuel dissolved directly within molten
salt.
Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)
The reactor can be easily turned off for any reason. With the shutdown, the dissolved salt containing the nuclear fuel becomes more and more solid, which prevents the risk of radioactive material leaking, and ensures a very high level of safety.
Therefore the advantages of the 4th generation nuclear reactor are multiple:
high safety
Able to give large supply with great flexibility to match the demand
Limited areas are required
The Ministry of Energy of the State of Israel also came to this conclusion and dedicated a designated place for the absorption of a nuclear plant.
The future of the Nuclear
The future of nuclear power generation is even more promising: years of already working on nuclear fusion reactors and not fission.
Thirty-five countries have joined forces in a project called ITER to build a reactor for research purposes in which they will generate electricity by fusing atoms: the European Union, China, India, Japan, Korea and the United States.
They set up the reactor at the Cadarache site in the south of France that simulates the process of melting seals that takes place in the sun that produces the heat that is so familiar to us. Even the first experiments started in the world were able to produce heat for a few seconds.
But there is still a long way to go before this technology matures and we do not have the time it takes for that to happen and we must act immediately to curb lobal warming.
That is why we established Isratom.
Isratom aims to promote the assimilation of 4th generation nuclear reactors in Israel in the immediate term, with the understanding that this is part of the holistic solution required to maintain an electricity economy that is able to meet the needs of the population and replaces the polluting energies responsible for global warming.
To this end, Isratom is working to achieve a better future for both Israel and the entire world.