Time to reactivate nuclear energy in Mexico

PhD Lorenzo Martínez Gómez argued that it is a real alternative to mitigate climate change damage from fossil fuel combustion in Mexico.

The energy sector has been one of the strategic areas for the country, not only as a revenue generator for the nation but as a lever of industrial development. However, Mexico has a deficit in generating technologies and human talent in this area, making it an issue addressed by various academic specialists.

It is the case of Lorenzo Martínez Gómez, researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Autonomous Nacional University of Mexico (UNAM), who noted that in the new scenario that the country faces, the employment outlook is quite spacious for the energy sector, and is a point to be exploited by generators of human resources.

By participating at the analysis table “The training of human resources to meet the energy transition”, held at the Polytechnic University of San Luis Potosí (UPSLP), Martínez Gómez said the figure that the federal government manages about employment opportunities that will be generated by the energy reform (135,000 immediately and half a million in the medium term) represents an opportunity for students, but not only in areas of hydrocarbons, but new technologies to develop alternative energy.

In that sense, the university expert noted that given the situation presented given the energy reform, is convenient to develop a serious initiative regarding the revival of nuclear engineering in Mexico.

“In Mexico, support for this type of energy generation has not permeated society and government; on the contrary, accidents at nuclear plants have been oversized, when in fact it is a real alternative to mitigate the ravages of climate change related to fossil fuel combustion,” said the also winner of the Science and Technology Award granted by the Organization of American States  (OAS).

In this regard, Martínez Gómez noted that even adding up all the accidents at conventional nuclear power plants, such as the one at Laguna Verde (in the state of Veracruz, in west coast of Mexico), it does not compare to all the damage caused by power generation from fossil sources. However, society is more afraid of a nuclear disaster.

According to the expert, energies that emit carbon dioxide (CO2) are one of the most pressing problems currently facing the planet. In contrast, nuclear plants have the advantage of generating very little of these components, while producing large amounts of energy.

Read more: Time to reactivate nuclear energy in the country