Pace Of Building New Nuclear Should Increase To Meet World Needs, IAEA’s Amano Tells Conference

30 Oct (NucNet): The pace of construction of new nuclear power units needs to step up in order to meet the world’s future energy requirements and climate change goals, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Yukiya Amano said during the fourth IAEA International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century. Mr Amano told the conference, which opened today in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that the latest IAEA projections show that nuclear energy’s global potential up to 2050 remains high, but expansion is expected to slow in the coming years. Mr Amano said: “It is difficult to see other low-carbon energy sources growing sufficiently to take up the slack if nuclear power use fails to grow”. Mr Amano said he hopes that ongoing developments in reactor designs will improve the economic attractiveness and cost effectiveness of nuclear power, and help alleviate public concerns related to safety and nuclear waste disposal.