from New Scientist, 22 November 2007
Rumours of a nuclear power renaissance have been greatly exaggerated. So says an audit of the nuclear industry released on Wednesday.
The report, commissioned by the Greens in the European parliamentary, points out that many ageing reactors are due to close before 2030, and that 338 new ones would have to be built just to replace them.
The Paris-based nuclear consultants who compiled the report argue that the industry is growing too slowly to meet this target, and may even be shrinking. The world has five fewer reactors operating today than it did in 2002, they say. Some 32 reactors are under construction, mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe, but 11 of those have been under construction for 20 years or more. Although 91 reactors are being planned, work on them has not yet started.
The idea that nuclear power is about to experience major growth is "pure fantasy", says the report's author, Mycle Schneider. The industry is facing "a dramatic loss of competence, sceptical financial markets and the severe shortage of manufacturing capacity", he says.
His analysis is echoed by the industry in one respect. The Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD group of industrialised countries warned last week that a shortage of qualified nuclear scientists internationally could prevent the construction of new reactors. Governments had to give more backing to nuclear education, the agency said.
The report on the status of nuclear power can be downloaded here.
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