EU sees nuclear energy as favorite choice for energy needs
 
Jul 16, 2006 - Xinhua English Newswire
 

EU sees nuclear energy as favorite choice for energy needs

 

Munich, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Nuclear energy remains Europe's favorite option or its future energy needs despite the nuclear crisis involving Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a top EU think tank said Sunday.

 

Roland Schenkel, director-general of the Joint Research Center, a research-based organization working for the European Union (EU) policy-makers, said here that nuclear energy is the best choice to replace fossil fuels as the main non-greenhouse gas emitting power source to satisfy global demand in the coming decades.

 

Speaking in a speech at the EuroScience Open forum, Schenkel said secure and civilian use of nuclear energy has to be separated from the suspicious military purposes of certain countries.

 

The controls on the proliferation-sensitive parts of the nuclear fuel cycle should be tightened through the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said.

 

However, "shutdown of EU civil nuclear reactor would have zero impact on ability of any other country to obtain nuclear weapons," said Schenkel.

 

Apart from the military perspective, there are also grave security concern over the civilian use of nuclear energy, he said.

 

But the proven track record of nuclear fission reactors is safe and green, said the expert.

 

The most accident-prone energy sectors are fuel extraction, refining and transportation in fossil energy chains, such as coal mine blasts and oil transport accidents that cost tens of thousands of lives every year, he said.

 

Since the most severe nuclear accident in Chernobyl, the European Commission has supported safety improvements of Chernobyl type reactors, and safety design and safety performance of new generation of reactors have significantly improved.

 

Addressing the concern on the nuclear waste management, Schenkel said the solutions do exist and new developments in this field hold great promise.

 

As for the low and medium active waste, solutions are well in place, and for the highly active waste, solutions are being refined and Finland and Sweden have been playing a leading role in this respect, he said.

 

Nuclear energy also makes economic sense, said the expert.

 

According to a recent research of Paul Scherrer-Institute of Switzerland, nuclear energy is the least costly in generating electricity compared with other renewable energies such as hydropower and wind.

 

 


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