Leading opponents of nuclear power in Norway, the interest and employer organization Fornybar Norge, took part on Wednesday last week in a debate entitled “What is the future of nuclear power in Norway?”, organized by the Polytechnic Association.
The event was packed, with a panel composed of some of the leading experts on energy in Norway. During the debate, Eivind Heløe, director of renewable energy at Fornybar Norge, said that “the technical lifetime of wind power is 20-25 years, after which it may be relevant to return the areas back to nature, which coincides with when nuclear power may be relevant in Norway ».
He then pointed to Håvard Kristiansen from Norsk Kjernekraft AS, who was also on the panel by his side. This came as a big surprise to those present, including several well-known voices who have followed the Norwegian energy debate for a long time and closely.
Soon after, Fornybar Norge came out with something as rare as a “denial” against its own director Heløe, where they distanced themselves from the statement and pointed out that Heløe made these statements “as a private person”. Do we sense disorder in the ranks at Fornybar Norge?
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Fast green energy
Renewable Norway has long been opposed to nuclear power, and was one of several actors who commissioned the aforementioned “Rystad report” in autumn 2023.
The publication of the report resulted in the rector of NTNU having to leave as a result of the aftermath, with accusations of organized opposition to nuclear power at the expense of academic integrity. We should really be grateful that they sped up the whole process of disseminating information about nuclear power. Now they must also understand that construction should not start in 25 years’ time, but rather help encourage that we get all green energy sources built as quickly as possible.
Like Sweden’s new prime minister, who says he wants to build ten new reactors. We know that nuclear power is historically the fastest way to build emission-free energy, shown by when France went from eight percent to 80 percent nuclear power in a decade, today it takes an average of seven years worldwide to build, while South Korea does in four years. Imagine if we also had a government that showed the same will.
Read also: Subject says: Yes to Norwegian nuclear power
Time to listen
More and more people are now looking at nuclear power as part of the solution to both the climate crisis, the electricity crisis and the nature crisis.
There are now measurements that show a majority of the population in favor of building nuclear power in Norway, and that local support is growing – with now over 80 municipalities proactively contacting the company Norsk Kjernekraft AS with an interest in assessing the possibility of hosting nuclear power in own municipality.
Several parties have now marked nuclear energy as one of their most important issues in the run-up to the next general election, and all youth parties support research and development. We are experiencing great growth in our own organization Climate Friends for Nuclear Power with around 1,000 members, where we are constantly invited by youth parties and associations around Norway and abroad to give lectures on nuclear power. Now we just need the governing politicians to be willing to listen.
There were a few hours of joy before the dementia came on Friday. We briefly lived in a reality where Renewable Norway was open to assessing all sustainable energy sources, as well as recognizing the value of nature, before they swung the internal “party whip”. We cheer for all green contributions, and hope the environmental movement can work as a team, instead of trying to buckle down on initiatives for climate and nature.
