Response to Tim Gregory (Can we afford to be afraid of nuclear power
Posted: 11th July 2025
Letter Nick Eyre: Tim Gregory (Can we afford to be afraid of nuclear power? 6 July) makes a series of assertions that are incompatible with recent evidence about the transition to zero-carbon energy. Two stand out. The first is that the world needs more energy. Poor countries certainly do. But the clean-energy transition involves shifting to much more efficient technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps. Many studies, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, show that these can enable rich countries to halve their energy use while improving living standards. The whole world could have western European lifestyles and still use less energy. The second error is to argue that wind and solar energy cannot power a reliable electricity grid. A major study by the Royal Society showed that a system based on these resources with some long-duration storage is not only feasible, but will be cheaper than a system with any level of nuclear power. Nuclear power is a costly distraction from building an efficient and renewable system.