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Asia major growth market for nuclear power: IAEA chief
MUMBAI, Nov 16/2004: Asia has emerged as a strong growth market for nuclear power, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Dr Mohamed Elbaradei has said.
The chief of the Vienna-based international nuclear watchdog said yesterday that by contrast, in western Europe and North America, nuclear construction had been relatively frozen, with the last plant completed being Civaux-2 in France in 1999.
Of the 27 units now under construction worldwide, he said, 19 were located in Asia, while 23 of the 28 reactors were to be connected to grids in the far east and south Asia.
Nine of the 27 units, with a total capacity of 4,460 mega-watts, were in India, he said addressing a gathering of nuclear scientists, technocrats and engineers at a seminar on ‘peaceful uses of nuclear energy: Meeting societal needs’ hosted by the Indian nuclear society.
However, there may be signs of renewed activity in Europe and North America with construction set to start next year on a 1,600 mega-watt pressurised water reactor (epr) nuclear plant in Finland.
France had also announced that it will begin construction in 2007 on a new EPR nuclear plant in Flamanville.
Mr Elbaradei said not every country shared the view that improved economies and safety performance warrant a revival of nuclear power,
This divergence of opinion was to be expected, he noted, as each country and region faced a different set of variables when choosing its energy strategy and such decisions could be made on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ basis.
Dr Elbaradei said a majority of public continued to support nuclear power expansion. In Switzerland, the electorate, by a two-to-one vote, rejected a phase-out of nuclear power.
Europe, received 30 per cent of overall electricity from nuclear power, yet, four western european countries - Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden — had nuclear phase-out policies in place and a large number of other European countries had stated policies against nuclear power.
The IAEA chief also pointed out that nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases. "The complete nuclear power chain, from uranium mining to waste disposal and reactor and facility constructions, emits only two to six grams of carbon per kilowatt-hour. This is about the same as wind and solar power, and well below coal, oil and even natural gas," he said.
Worldwide, if the existing nuclear power plants were shut down and replaced with a mix of non-nuclear sources proportionate to what now exists, the result would be an increase of 600 million tonnes of carbon emmited per year. "This is approximately twice the total amount that we estimate will be avoided by the Kyoto protocol in 2010", he added. (UNI)
MUMBAI, Nov 16/2004: Asia has emerged as a strong growth market for nuclear power, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Dr Mohamed Elbaradei has said.
The chief of the Vienna-based international nuclear watchdog said yesterday that by contrast, in western Europe and North America, nuclear construction had been relatively frozen, with the last plant completed being Civaux-2 in France in 1999.
Of the 27 units now under construction worldwide, he said, 19 were located in Asia, while 23 of the 28 reactors were to be connected to grids in the far east and south Asia.
Nine of the 27 units, with a total capacity of 4,460 mega-watts, were in India, he said addressing a gathering of nuclear scientists, technocrats and engineers at a seminar on ‘peaceful uses of nuclear energy: Meeting societal needs’ hosted by the Indian nuclear society.
However, there may be signs of renewed activity in Europe and North America with construction set to start next year on a 1,600 mega-watt pressurised water reactor (epr) nuclear plant in Finland.
France had also announced that it will begin construction in 2007 on a new EPR nuclear plant in Flamanville.
Mr Elbaradei said not every country shared the view that improved economies and safety performance warrant a revival of nuclear power,
This divergence of opinion was to be expected, he noted, as each country and region faced a different set of variables when choosing its energy strategy and such decisions could be made on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ basis.
Dr Elbaradei said a majority of public continued to support nuclear power expansion. In Switzerland, the electorate, by a two-to-one vote, rejected a phase-out of nuclear power.
Europe, received 30 per cent of overall electricity from nuclear power, yet, four western european countries - Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden — had nuclear phase-out policies in place and a large number of other European countries had stated policies against nuclear power.
The IAEA chief also pointed out that nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases. "The complete nuclear power chain, from uranium mining to waste disposal and reactor and facility constructions, emits only two to six grams of carbon per kilowatt-hour. This is about the same as wind and solar power, and well below coal, oil and even natural gas," he said.
Worldwide, if the existing nuclear power plants were shut down and replaced with a mix of non-nuclear sources proportionate to what now exists, the result would be an increase of 600 million tonnes of carbon emmited per year. "This is approximately twice the total amount that we estimate will be avoided by the Kyoto protocol in 2010", he added. (UNI)
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