While

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

operates nuclear research reactors, it has no nuclear power plants. However, the possibility of constructing nuclear power plants in the country has been considered at various times over the years.

Nuclear power reactors

History

Historically, the topic of constructing nuclear power plants in Israel has occasionally been brought up for discussion among Israeli government circles. Israeli nuclear reactor stamp 1960

On 26 August 1958, then Israeli Finance Minister

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...

announced the government's intention to build a nuclear power plant. Over the next three decades talks were held with various American administrations to help advance this effort but none came to fruition. In January 2007, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said his country should consider producing nuclear power for civilian purposes. As a result of the nuclear power emergencies at Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

said on 17 March 2011, "I don't think we're going to pursue civil nuclear energy in the coming years." , the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources is considering nuclear power in order to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

25% by 2030.

Factors affecting nuclear power in Israel

Several factors have contributed to the fact that no nuclear power plants have been built in Israel over the years. One is the fact that the Israel is not a signatory to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

, which makes it more difficult for the country to engage with international suppliers of nuclear technology. Another reason is that very large deposits of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

have been found offshore the Israeli coastline beginning in the 2010s. The exploitation of these deposits allow for generating electricity at very cost-effective rates as compared to generating electricity using nuclear power.

Potential site

Since the 1980s, a site near Shivta in the Negev desert has been designated as the future location of a nuclear power plant. Previously, a site near Nitzanim, within the by the Mediterranean coast was considered but was rejected in the 1970s due to strong opposition from nearby residents.

Research reactors

IRR-2

Israel operates a

heavy water Heavy water (deuterium oxide, , ) is a form of water (molecule), water in which hydrogen atoms are all deuterium ( or D, also known as ''heavy hydrogen'') rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (, also called ''protium'') that makes up most o ...

cooled and moderated nuclear reactor called "IRR-2" (Israel Research Reactor-2) at the '' Negev Nuclear Research Center'' (NRCN) near Dimona officially for research purposes, although many believe the installation's true purpose is the production of nuclear materials for use in Israel's nuclear weapons. This reactor does not operate under the inspection regime of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

(IAEA). The NRCN also hosts a "national

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

disposal site" for "Radioactive waste from hospitals, research institutions, higher education facilities and factories".

IRR-1

IRR-1, a small 5 MW open pool light water reactor exists at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center in central Israel. This reactor operates under the safeguards of the

References

{{Asia topic, Nuclear power in

Nuclear power in Asia by country