IEA Says Expanded Nuclear Power Can Curb Emissions
Date: 23-Jun-06
Country: FRANCE
The Paris-based IEA, adviser to 26 industrialised nations, said that increased use of nuclear power still faced obstacles including high capital costs, public opposition and safety fears.
But the agency said development of a new fourth generation of reactors aimed to address these issues.
"Assuming that these concerns are met, increased use of nuclear power can provide substantial carbon dioxide emissions reductions," the IEA said in a report that also stressed the need for energy efficiency and other sources of clean energy.
It said 11 countries, including industrialised nations with the largest nuclear power sectors, had joined together to develop the fourth generation power plants.
The IEA issued its report ahead of next month's G8 summit in St. Petersburg where Russia's ambition to boost uranium exports to the European Union is expected to be among issues discussed.
The IEA said the report was compiled in response to last year's G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland, where climate change and energy issues topped the agenda.
Nuclear power plants produce hardly any carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, although critics say large amounts of CO2 are produced during the mining of nuclear fuels.
Twenty years after the world's worst civil nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, the controversial power source is back in favour with several governments as they juggle the need for secure energy supplies and lower CO2 emissions.
The IEA's report urged the world to take action to boost energy efficiency. It called for a transformation of the way that power is generated and that homes and offices are built. Technologies used for transport must also change, it added.
"Consumers are often ill-informed," the IEA said. "Few are concerned with energy efficiency when buying appliances, homes or cars. Even business management tends to give energy efficiency a low priority in decision making."
It said the use of renewable power as well as clean coal technology and carbon dioxide capture and storage were also important for a sustainable energy future.
"Carbon capture and storage is indispensable for the role coal can play in providing low-cost electricity in a CO2-constrained world," the IEA said.
