Nuclear power would boost Ireland’s energy security and lower bills, a campaign group has argued, as the Dáil prepares to debate the technology. 

Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor has announced plans to introduce legislation that would lift the ban on nuclear power generation in Ireland. 

In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is “open” to the idea of nuclear power, but noting the technology was costly and the infrastructure was slow to build. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Denis Duff of 18for0, a pro-nuclear group, said the adoption of nuclear power would have a transformative impact on Ireland.  

“Of course, we should consider nuclear because everywhere that nuclear has gone in, it has resulted in lower price bills for the customer, it actually makes decarbonisation easier,” he argued. 

“It makes decarbonisation faster and more certain than the current plan, it increases your energy security.”

While Mr Duff said he supports increased use of renewable technology, he added that nuclear would provide an important safety net for the energy grid 

“We think we should look at other alternatives so that if the offshore wind plan isn't developed, it doesn't come to reality as people think it won't, then we have another option in our pocket that we can use if we want,” he said. 

“It actually makes it much easier to operate a grid when you have a constant source of electricity there and then you're moving the other parts around. 

“The most secure system in Europe is the French electricity system, which is powered 70% plus by nuclear.”

'Distracting ourselves'

Also on the programme, climate policy researcher Sadhbh O’Neill argued that proponents of nuclear power underestimate the cost and time it would take to build the power stations. 

“My concern would be that if we shift the conversation to a rather speculative conversation about the role that nuclear might play in the Irish energy system, we're distracting ourselves because that would take easily 15, 20, in some cases 30 years to roll out and build,” she said. 

“They're very, very complex projects; even with advances in the technology and even with small scale reactors, they won't make the emission reductions that we need to make right now.”

Leitir Guingaid Wind Farm. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

Ms O’Neill continued that the cost of renewables has plummeted in recent years and that the Irish Government is right to prioritise wind, solar and battery storage. 

“There is no question that the current plan is working,” she said. 

“The problem is that we are not scaling up the renewables that we can deploy as fast as we could.

“Secondly, the real reason why Ireland's electricity prices are higher is not because we don't have nuclear, it's because of the grid upgrades that we are required to introduce. 

“They're expensive and also the fact that we are relying on gas for about 50% of our power generation.”

Solar panels on a roof. Picture by: Pexels.com

Despite this, Ms O’Neill said that Ireland should ‘keep an eye on’ nuclear power, as the technology could become cheaper to operate. 

“If there are developments in the technology, especially with the small-scale reactors, that would be much more suitable for Ireland - we should definitely be on top of that, we should be keeping an eye on it,” she said. 

“In fact, the ESB produces a report every year looking at emerging technologies and they have concluded, at the moment, that's not to say it might change, but at the moment, the small scale reactors are not mature technologies. 

“We don't have demonstrations that we can go to and say, ‘Yeah, we'd like one of those.’

“They're not there, renewables are there.”

Main image: A nuclear power station. Picture by: Alamy.com.