May 14, 2007 08:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Nuclear Power Generation Is an Established Part of the World's Electricity Mix Providing Over 16% of World Electricity

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c56722) has announced the addition of Global Nuclear Power Industry to their offering.

Nuclear power is generated using Uranium, which is a metal mined in various parts of the world. Presently, nuclear power produces around 15% of the world's energy needs, and produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, without the pollution that you would get from burning fossil fuels.

The position of nuclear energy in the world is fairly stable. In Asia and Russia intensive investment in new capacity is taking place, while in the United States, the focus is on life extension of existing nuclear power plants. In Europe, new nuclear power plants are being built in Finland, France and Romania.

Nuclear energy will continue to have an important role in the production of electricity in the world. The report – Global Nuclear Power Industry explores the importance of nuclear power in today’s world. The report looks at the basics of the nuclear industry that is, how a plant works, analyzing and understanding the fuel cycle, the various components which are involved in the working of a nuclear power plant, and much more. Economics, issues and barriers, regulatory incentives, tax incentives, and other such factors are also explored in-depth in this report. This offering includes a complete analysis of each country which has nuclear power, countries which are making news today due to their nuclear power status, and companies and utilities around the world which are providing people with their power needs from nuclear power. The report is a comprehensive A to Z guide on the global nuclear power industry.

Today, only eight countries are known to have a nuclear weapons capability. By contrast, 56 operate civil research reactors, and 30 have some 435 commercial nuclear power reactors with a total installed capacity of over 370 000 MWe. This is more than three times the total generating capacity of France or Germany from all sources. Some 30 further power reactors are under construction, equivalent to 6% of existing capacity, while over 60 are firmly planned, equivalent to 18% of present capacity. Nuclear power generation is an established part of the world's electricity mix providing over 16% of world electricity (cf. coal 40%, oil 10%, natural gas 15% and hydro & other 19%). It is especially suitable for large-scale, base-load electricity demand.

With the United Nations predicting world population growth from 6.4 billion in 2004 to 8.1 billion by 2030, demand for energy must increase substantially over that period. Both population growth and increasing standards of living for many people in developing countries will cause strong growth in energy demand, expected to be 1.6% per year, or 53% from 2004 to 2030.

Electricity demand is increasing much more rapidly than overall energy use, and is projected to grow at 2.6% per year to 2030. Currently some two billion people have no access to electricity, and it is a high priority to address this lack.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c56722.

Research and Markets
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
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press@researchandmarkets.com