Nuclear power makes worldwide comeback
0 
After years of standstill, the nuclear power industry appeared to be making a global comeback in recent months as nations scramble to curb global warming and meet increasing energy demands.
The industry saw triple-digit growth rates in the 1970s and 1980s, but the expansion virtually stopped in most countries after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine.
According to the World Nuclear Association, the nuclear power share in world electricity has remained at around 16 percent since the mid-1980s.
But with energy needs and concerns about global warming growing, the revival of the nuclear power industry now appears inevitable.
The United States, the world's leading nuclear power producer, operates 104 nuclear reactors. It is one of the major developed economies to underscore clean energy as a way to save the environment and cut reliance on foreign oil.
"To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power," U.S. President Barack Obama said in February.
In the same speech, Obama announced 8 billion dollars in loan guarantees to build nuclear plants in the United States. No new plants have been built on U.S. soil since the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the northeastern state of Pennsylvania.
Compared with the United States, the British government has worked out a more ambitious plan. In November, it named 10 sites where a new generation of nuclear plants could be built to replace existing facilities, most of which will be closed by 2025.
"The threat of climate change means we need to make a transition from a system that relies heavily on high-carbon fossil fuels to a radically different system that includes nuclear, renewable and clean-coal power," said Edward Miliband, Britain's energy and climate secretary.
Emerging economies like China and India have also been developing plans for reactor construction in the coming years as part of their efforts to meet energy demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
China has set the 2020 capacity target of nuclear power at 40 million kilowatts, or 4 percent of the country's total power capacity, Huang Li, a senior official of the National Energy Administration, told Xinhua.
Currently, China's operating installed capacity of nuclear power stations stands at about 10 million kilowatts.
Energy-hungry India is another big market for nuclear power.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a multi-billion-dollar arms and energy deal, including the construction of 12 nuclear reactors for India, with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh when he visited New Delhi in March.
India is not the only developing country that builds its civil nuclear power through international cooperation.
Also in March, Vietnam and the United States agreed to cooperate on nuclear energy, a step toward allowing U.S. firms to participate in Hanoi's plans to develop commercial nuclear power.
As nuclear power seems to be back on the fast track, nations are now racing to secure uranium supplies for nuclear energy.
In March, Japan signed a nuclear energy deal with Kazakhstan, the world's biggest producer of uranium ore. The deal enables Japan to secure a stable supply of uranium.
In 2009, India forged a similar agreement with Namibia, which accounts for about 10 percent of the global production of uranium ore and holds about 5 percent of known reserves.
However, there has always been opposition to nuclear power. In Germany, public acceptance is low due to environmental and security concerns. The country has decided to phase out its 17 nuclear plants by 2021, though some government officials want to extend their life.
Despite that, a growing number of countries see nuclear energy as one of the most promising carbon-free power sources.
In its 2009 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) significantly increased its projection of the world nuclear generating capacity.
The IAEA estimates nuclear power generation will grow at least 37 percent by 2030, and perhaps as much as 116 percent more than the current 327 gigawatts.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments