2.7.3. Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was initially proposed and signed in 1968, having as its main goal the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation around the world. Currently, most countries have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which for them is a commitment to reducing the production, spread and use of nuclear weapons (Brook et al. 2014). The responsibility of ensuring that the Treaty will be respected and followed by all members was assigned to the United Nations. More specifically, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is responsible for the verification of adherence by all member states to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. As Brook et al. (2014) mention, no production of weapons-grade materials is observed globally, with the only exception being the dual-purpose RBMK-type reactors that have been constructed in the Soviet Union. The Non-Proliferation Treaty consists of 11 Articles (Article I–Article XI) which promote global safety regarding the nuclear weapons. As the Treaty mentiones in Article X, paragraph 2, with the completion of the first 25 years of its effectiveness, a conference should be held in order to evaluate the progress of the Treaty and decide on its continuation, a conference that the United Nations held and where the continuation of the Treaty was agreed upon by the parties involved.

#### **3. The Energy Scheme of the New Millennium**

The global community is watching the warfare in Europe between Russian Federation and Ukraine with intense concern since, in addition to the stakes of democracy, it has affected the global economy and the production and supply of energy. Russia is one of the main energy suppliers in terms of natural gas, a source that is used in electricity production as well as a heating fuel in many countries across the world. Moreover, the production line relies on electricity, which nowadays became a mercurial component due to the occurring limitations.

Over the last years, countries across the world, taking into consideration climate change as well as the reduction of the inventory of fossil fuels, have attempted to adopt alternative and specifically renewable forms of energy production. The most common sources of energy have already been mentioned in previous sections. Based on available data, we are aiming to illustrate the current situation since the beginning of the new millennium by using the reported values by BP's *Statistical Review of World Energy* (BP 2022).

#### *Methodology*

Before we analyze the results presented in Tables A1 and A2, we need to clarify the methodology used in order to create the tables presented below. Tables present the total values of energy and electricity production globally per year. We calculated the share of production of each type of energy and electricity source by dividing the total value (last column of each table) by the value of each type of energy and electricity source. The summations per year and the percentages based on the total energy mix were calculated by the authors. The number of countries using each specific form of energy source were calculated by the authors simply by subtracting the zero filled countries of the total 79 countries of the sample regarding the energy mix and the 207–209 countries regarding the electricity production.

Initially, we observed the energy mix used since 2000 on an annual basis for the reported countries. Table A1 (Appendix A) presents the summations per energy source per year over the last 22 years (2000–2021). As we can observe, nine different possible energy sources are reported, including biofuels, solar, wind and hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, gas, coal, oil, and finally geothermal, biomass, and other energy sources. As is mentioned in the BP database (2022), the values reported refer to TWh. Following the note of Table A1 (Appendix A), we will initially discuss the results of the total energy mix per year due to the fact that the records in brackets are based on these values. First and foremost, the total energy mix per year is the summation of all forms of energy sources of all 79 included countries. What is illustrated is the fact that, since the beginning of the new millennium and over time, the total amount of energy needed, produced and consumed by the nations globally is steadily increasing. More specifically, there has been a 48.61% increase in the total energy mix over the last 22 years, reaching 158,160.8 TWh of energy in Total. This significant increase indicates the excessive need of energy by society, which can lead us to worst case scenarios regarding the latest energy crisis observed due to the aforementioned warfare. The world demands greater amounts of TWh year by year, amounts that may not be able to be produced due to the lack of natural resources such as gas or fossil fuels.

Another aspect that is crucial to take into consideration is the sources from which all this energy amount is produced. In 2000, the three main sources of energy mix were gas, coal and oil, which covered the 22.131%, 25.364% and 38.529% of total energy mix, respectively. More specifically, in total, 91,551.77 TWh were produced based on these three energy sources, when the total amount of energy produced globally was reaching the 106,425.3 TWh. The majority of the countries examinedwere basing their energy on those sources, whereby 76 countries were using gas, 71 were using coal, and all 79 were using oil. Regarding the share of energy coming from the renewable energy forms including solar, wind and hydroelectric power in 2000, the values reported were significantly low. Only 6.825% of the total energy produced came from solar (0.003%), wind (0.087%) and hydroelectric (6.735%) power. Although 70 countries have already adopted the hydroelectric power as an alternative source of energy, only 7167.738 TWh were produced globally, while solar and wind power were used only by 28 and 39 countries, respectively, with their share of the total energy mix being dramatically low.

As the task here is to review the case of nuclear energy, in 2000, nuclear energy was adopted by 30 countries, providing 7317.65 TWh in total, reaching the share of 6.876% of the total energy mix. The number of countries trusting nuclear energy is low compared to other sources, which have been proven to be pollutants such as coal. A possible reason for the non-use of nuclear energy may be assumed to be the negative theory regarding the nuclear accidents. Indeed, history has shown us that nuclear accidents can be deadly and disastrous for the economy, the society and the environment. However, it is important to weigh the drawbacks of other sources of the energy mix. Oil spills cause great environmental disasters as well; however all 79 countries included in BP's review use oil as one of the main sources of energy. The production of energy using coal has been proven to be harmful both for the environment and human life, and today the world still depends on coal for a significant part of its energy production.

The Energy Mix scheme has drastically changed in 2021. The three main sources of energy mix were gas, coal and oil, which accounted for 24.834%, 27.743% and 30.648% of the total energy mix, respectively. More specifically, in total, 131,629.22 TWh were produced based on these three energy sources, when the total amount of energy produced globally was reaching 158,160.8 TWh. The majority of the countries examined were basing their energy on those sources, and 76 countries were using gas, 75 were using coal, and all 79 were using oil. Regarding the share of energy coming from the renewable energy forms including solar, wind and hydroelectric power in 2021, the values reported are still significantly low, however, there has been a noticeable increase. Only 11.192% of the total energy produced came from solar (1.685%), wind (3.049%) and hydroelectric (6.458%) power. What is really important to mention, however, is the number of countries adopting renewable sources of energy. Compared to 2000, in 2021 the majority of countries have turned to more ecofriendly sources of energy. Currently, solar power is used in 78 out of 79 countries included in the research, indicating a sharp increase compared to the 28 countries in 2000. Similarly, wind power is used in 70 out of 79 countries, where in 2000 only 39 countries were using wind power as part of their energy mix.

The energy produced by the renewable forms has significantly increased. Solar power in 2000 was producing only 3.11549 TWh globally, while in 2021 the energy produced by solar power equals 2664.65 TWh, giving 854.28 times more energy production based on solar power. Similarly, wind power produced 51.35 times more energy in 2021, while hydroelectric power produced 0.42 times more energy. However, regarding the low percentage change of hydroelectric power, we need to take into consideration the fact that solar and wind power were established in many countries as new sources of energy, while hydroelectric power was already prevalent as a source of energy. These changes indicate that communities around the world have started changing, or at least enhancing the energy mix with ecofriendly options, taking into account the climate change phenomenon and its impacts to the environment.

Moving forward, as of 2021 nuclear energy has been adopted by 32 countries, providing 7026.322 TWh in total, reaching the share of 4.443% of the total energy mix. Although there was a slight increase in the number of countries using nuclear power, from 30 to 32 countries, what is observable is the fact that the TWh produced globally in 2021 were 291.33 TWh less than those produced in 2000. More specifically, the global production of nuclear energy in 2021 was 3.98% lower compared to the 2000 values. This decrease may indicate a possible hesitancy with regard to the use of nuclear energy.

Using the same Review by BP (2022) and the data published, it is feasible to display the existing condition regarding the electricity production specifically and not just with regard to the energy mix in general. The difference between those two terms is the fact that electricity constitutes one of the three components of energy, while transport and heating constitute the other two components.

When facing energy crises similar to the one that is currently occurring in the world, it is crucial to know the share of electricity, and not only energy, produced by each source. This knowledge will give us the needed information to create a plan regarding each country's autonomy.

Table A2 (Appendix A) presents the summations per electricity source per year over the last 21 years (2000–2020). As we can observe, eight different possible electricity sources are reported, including solar, wind and hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, gas, coal, oil, and finally renewables including bioenergy and other electricity sources. As is mentioned in the BP database (2022), the values reported refer to TWh. Following the note of Table A2 (Appendix A), we will initially discuss the results of the total electricity per year due to the fact that the records in brackets are based on these values. First and foremost, the total electricity per year is the summation of all forms of energy sources of all included countries. What is illustrated is the fact that, since the beginning of the new millennium and over

time, the total amount of electricity needed, produced and consumed by nations globally is steadily increasing. More specifically, there has been a 74.30% increase in total electricity over the last 21 years, reaching 26,106.839 TWh of electricity in total. This significant increase indicates the excessive need for electricity by society, which can worry us once again about the worst case scenarios regarding the latest energy crisis observed due to the present warfare that is taking place.

Figure 3 shows a stacked bar graph which has been constructed in an attempt to visualize the evolution of the global energy mix per year since the beginning of the new millennium. It has been created using the share of energy coming from each specific source to the total energy produced annually.

**Figure 3.** Global Energy Mix (2000–2021). Constructed by the authors.

Another aspect that is crucial to take into consideration is the source from which all of the total electricity amount is produced. In 2000, the main sources of electricity were coal and gas, and the three most common electricity sources were hydroelectric power and oil, which which accounted for 38.153%, 17.969% and 17.527% of total electricity, respectively. More specifically, in total, 11,031.31 TWh were produced based on these three electricity sources, when the total amount of electricity produced globally was reaching 12,978.305 TWh. The majority of the countries studied were basing their energy on those sources, whereas 91 countries were using gas, 70 were using coal, and 146 were using hydroelectric power. Regarding the share of energy coming from the renewable energy forms including solar and wind power in 2000, the values reported were significantly low. Only 0.215% of the total energy produced came from solar (0.007%) and wind (0.208%) power. Another source that has not been discussed yet regarding electricity production is oil.

In contrast to the energy mix analyzed above, oil as a form of electricity source is not a common component. More specifically, in 2000, 175 countries globally were using oil in the electricity production process; however, only 1191.85 TWh were being produced using this source, accounting for a share of 7.957% of total electricity. Moving forward, we once again are aiming to separately discuss the case of nuclear energy. In 2000, the electricity production of nuclear energy was adopted by 31 countries providing 2505.93 TWh in total, reaching the share of 16.730% of total electricity. Similar to the energy mix, the number of countries trusting nuclear energy is low compared to other sources that have been proven to be pollutants, such as coal.

Following the same path of the energy mix scheme, electricity production has drastically changed in 2020. The three main sources of electricity were coal, gas and hydroelectric power, which were covering 35.296%, 23.047% and 16.516% of total electricity, respectively. More specifically, in total, 19,543.22 TWh were produced based on these three

electricity sources, while the total amount of electricity produced globally was reaching 26,106.839 TWh. With regard to the share of energy coming from the renewable energy forms including solar and wind power in 2020, the values reported are still significantly low; however, there has been a noticeable increase. Only 9.276% of the total energy produced came from solar (3.197%) and wind (6.079%) power. What is really important to mention, however, is the number of countries adopting renewable sources of energy. Compared to 2000, in 2020 the majority of countries have turned to more ecofriendly sources of energy. Currently, solar power is used in 151 out of 209 countries included in the research, indicating a sharp increase compared to the 15 out of 207 countries in 2000. Similarly, wind power is used in 105 out of 209 countries, where in 2000 only 36 out of 207 countries were using wind power as part of their electricity production.

The electricity produced by the renewable forms has significantly increased. Solar power in 2000 was producing only 1.08 TWh globally, while in 2020 the electricity produced by solar power equalled to 834.63 TWh, providing 771.81 times more electricity production based on solar power. Similarly, wind power produced 49.93 times more energy in 2020. Once again, these changes indicate that communities around the world have started changing, or at least enhancing the energy mix with ecofriendly options, taking into account the climate change phenomenon and its impacts to the environment.

Moving forward, in 2020 energy production resulting from nuclear energy was adopted by 33 countries, providing some 2635.81 TWh in total, accounting for 10.096% of total electricity. Although there was a slight increase in the number of countries using nuclear power, from 31 to 33 countries, what is observable is the fact that the share of electricity produced by nuclear energy globally in 2020 is lower compared to the share from 2000.

Figure 4 is a stacked bar graph which has been constructed in an attempt to visualize the evolution of global electricity per year since the beginning of the new millennium. As is obvious, it has been created using the share of energy coming from each specific source to the total energy produced annually.

**Figure 4.** Global Electricity Production (2000–2020). Constructed by the authors.

#### **4. Conclusions**

The purpose of this paper was to review the case of nuclear energy and to discuss the issue of coping with energy crisis risks. More specifically, apart from presenting the basics of nuclear energy and nuclear reactors, we attempted to compare this source of electricity with other renewable energy forms such as solar power, wind power and hydroelectric power. It has been seen that, over the last years, there has been an increase in reactor construction globally. Having as an example the countries that gain the majority of their electricity from nuclear power plants, such as France, even more countries have decided to invest in this source of energy.

Supporters of nuclear energy believe that this source of power can be the best solution for sustainable energy production as well as climate change. The fact that during nuclear power production there are no emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide makes this source of energy a clean and eco-friendly option. The factor that supports its sustainability is uranium, the fuel used during production, which apart from being inexpensive is also unlimited in nature. Renewable energy forms (solar, wind and hydroelectric power) may be great options regarding eco-friendly energy production, but they unfortunately appear to be unsustainable due to their limited availability, making them likely unable to meet daily energy demands.

Nuclear energy, on the other hand, requires expensive investments in equipment and facilities, as well as expensive methods of waste management and disposal. The fact that the waste produced is radioactive and remains radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years, raising great concern about the negative impact that this may have to human beings and/or the environment with regard to potential cases of misuse. Another drawback of nuclear power plants is the fact that they are extremely vulnerable to natural environmental hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The case of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster of 2011 serves as a reminder of this.

Regarding the increase of income and the increase of environmental degradation up to a specific level of income and the decrease of environmental pollution afterwards, as proposed by the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, this has been proven to be accepted as the case in some countries (Halkos 1996, 2003, 2013). Moreover, some countries have proven that there is a causal relationship between economic growth and energy consumption. However, this has not been proven in all cases.

As is presented in the paper, since the beginning of the new millennium the scheme of energy production and electricity production appears to have changed drastically. By using the available data reported by BR, we illustrated that the production of energy and electricity has increased over the last 22 years (2000–2021) due to the excessive demand; however, what is more important to mention is the share of both electricity and energy derived from renewable forms such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power. It has been shown that more and more countries have adopted those sources of energy compared to previous decades.

What is important to examine, however, is whether nuclear energy appears to be trustable as a source of energy production by the nations of the world. As we have seen above, over the last 22 years there has been a slight increase in the number of nations trusting nuclear sources of energy both in terms of energy production and electricity production. Nuclear energy has been adopted by more countries over the last two decades, yet regarding the electricity production only 33 out of the 209 countries included in BP's sample use nuclear energy in order to produce electricity. These values indicate that it is probable that most countries either do not trust this source of energy or there may be an economic reason behind this situation. Knowing that nuclear power plants are an expensive investment, countries may avoid the investment in these facilities. Another possible scenario may be the combination of those two cases, as both the expense of investment and the risk of nuclear power plants may have led to a slight increase of nuclear energy adoption globally. Regarding renewable forms of energy, it has been proven that more and more nations around the world trust and adopt these sources in order to cover a part of their needed energy and electricity production. There has been a sharp increase in the countries creating power plants for renewable sources of energy such as hydroelectric power, solar and wind power. There has been a reported increase in their share of global production. To the best of our knowledge, there is no evidence as to whether there is a better source of energy when comparing the reported forms.

Lastly, when discussing the case of nuclear energy, we should of course mention all the aspects connected to the subject, but we have to always remember the nuclear accidents, which, although they may not happen frequently, the results are disastrous for the economy, the environment and human health. They can either be caused by human error or by acts of nature, but the aftermath is always the same, leaving devastated and abandoned regions with people suffering from chronic illnesses and probable increases in cancer rates, if not immediate death.

Regarding further research, we would like to mention that it is crucial to examine which alternative sources have proven to provide sufficient energy for peak demands and what their impact to the environment is based on their production process. Moreover, it is important to investigate and analyze the taxonomy regulations established by countries and organizations and provide evidence whether nuclear energy and renewable energy sources can be a possible solution to the European or global energy crisis, as well as to use those forms as an instrument to enhance climate protection and provide greener alternatives for a more prosperous future.

**Funding:** The research received no external funding.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data available on https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energyeconomics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Appendix A**


**Table A1.** Energy Mix by source (all in TWh).


**Table A1.** *Cont.*

Note: The table illustrates the TWh produced by each specific form of energy source, the values in the brackets report the percentage of total energy produced by each specific form of energy source, while the values in the parentheses represent the number of countries each form of energy source by year. Regarding the sample, 79 countries were included in the sample by BP during the time span 2000–2021. The summations per year and the percentages based on the total energy mix were calculated by the authors. The number of countries using each specific form of energy source were calculated by the authors simply by subtracting the zero filled countries of the 79 countries of the sample.

*J. Risk Financial Manag.* **2023**, *16*, 45

**Table A2.** Sources of Produced Electricity (all in TWh).


*J. Risk Financial Manag.* **2023**, *16*, 45

#### **Table A2.** *Cont.*


Note: The table illustrates the TWh produced by each specific form of electricity source, the values in the brackets report the percentage of total electricity produced by each specific form of electricity source, while the values in the parentheses represent the number of countries each form of electricity source by year. Regarding the sample, the provided dataset includes 207 countries for the period 2000–2004, 208 countries for the period 2005–2011, and 209 for the period 2012–2020 in the sample by BP during the time span 2000–2020. The summations per year and the percentages based on the total electricity were calculated by the authors. The number of countries using each specific form of energy source were calculated by the authors simply by subtracting the zero filled countries of the total countries of the sample per year.

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