IRC Americas Program Article Latin America Rethinks Nuclear Energy By Eugenio Fernández-Vázquez and Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra | September 12, 2005
Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC) americas.irc-online.org
The nuclear power option once again is appealing to some opinion leaders in the hemisphere as an alternative to fossil fuels and looming energy crisis. After three decades of projects in the field, however, the problems and risks of nuclear energy in Latin America demand we think twice before venturing down this slippery road. Here we present a synthesis of the history of nuclear energy in the region and of the dangers that it entails. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez announced on May 21 that his government will start to work on the research and construction of nuclear reactors for energy production. It is, he said, “one of the ways to diversify energy sources” and a possible solution to global warming and to the necessity to find alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels. Around the time of Chavez’ declarations, U.S. environmentalist Stewart Brand declared, after years of opposing the nuclear option, that he had changed his opinion. “It is not that something new and important and good happened with nuclear,” he explained, “It’s that something new and important and bad has happened with climate change.” Everybody is aware that the current energy situation is unsustainable in the medium term. The solution proposed by Chavez and Brand is, nevertheless, like covering one hole while digging another one. The danger resides in the fact that the nuclear hole is especially big and difficult to close, due to its environmental, economic, and geopolitical implications. It is also a solution that was already applied in Latin America, and failed.