Nuclear Industry Still Haunted by Chernobyl - UN
Date: 29-Jun-04
Country: RUSSIA
"Despite the array of measures that have been put in place since Chernobyl to offset the possibility of a severe accident, these risks can never be brought to zero and they continue to weigh heavily on public perceptions," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said.
The Chernobyl disaster occurred in April 1986, when an explosion at the Ukrainian power plant spewed a cloud of radioactivity across Europe and the Soviet Union.
Around 30 people died from radiation exposure after the accident, nearly 2,000 children later developed thyroid cancer and thousands of other fatal illnesses have been blamed on it. More than 100,000 people were resettled, causing physical, economic and psychological hardship.
In a speech at a conference marking the 50th anniversary of the first nuclear power plant near Moscow, ElBaradei said that the nuclear power industry has never fully recovered.
He said that in 1986, the year of the Chernobyl accident, atomic energy accounted for around 16 percent of the world's energy output - the same ratio as today.
"The environmental superiority of nuclear power as a source of electricity - particularly important in light of recent concerns about greenhouse gases and climate change - has frequently received less attention than the accumulation of spent (reactor) fuel and radioactive waste."
The IAEA has said that nuclear power emits virtually no greenhouse gases, which are believed to be the cause of global warming.
ElBaradei added that in the future, nuclear power would probably be recognized as indispensable in developing countries which lack natural resources like gas, oil or coal.
Later at a news conference, ElBaradei told reporters that greater reliance on nuclear energy could avoid the "excessive use of fossil fuel" and prevent an environmental catastrophe.
