IAEA Director General Discusses Nuclear Power: An Indispensable Part of a Sustainable Energy Mix

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Hans Blix, today re-emphasized the importance of retaining nuclear power as a significant energy source. He said it is increasingly realized that, although nuclear power will not be the only means of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, it is indispensable as a part of the response.

Speaking at the opening session of the General Meeting of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in Prague on May 12, the Director General said that despite the Climate Convention adopted at the Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, carbon dioxide emissions were continuing to rise practically everywhere. He cited a recent OECD report on the world energy outlook that predicted energy-derived CO₂ emissions increasing globally by almost 50 percent by the year 2010.

Whereas more efficient energy use had an important role to play, and greater use of renewables may ultimately rise well above their present contribution of meeting 2 percent of world energy demand, the inescapable fact was that for the foreseeable future the real choice for baseload power is between nuclear and fossil fuels -- coal, oil and gas. Clearly, for instance, if the Czech Republic were not completing the Temelin nuclear power plants, and if the Slovak Republic were not completing Mochovce, then the substitutes would not be solar or wind power but fossil fuels.

He went on to recall that the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Mr. Priddle, had recently written that "nuclear power accounted for the greater part of the lowering of carbon intensity of the energy economies of the OECD countries over the last 25 years."

Dr. Blix gave the following specific examples in terms of CO₂ emissions per kilowatt/hour: United Kingdom (49.5 % of electricity from coal) -- 0.63 kg.; Czech Republic -- 0.769 kg.; Denmark -- 0.917 kg; Poland -- 0.967 kg.. On the other hand, in countries where the nuclear share of energy production was high, one found much lower levels: France -- 0.064 kg. and Sweden -- 0.058 kg.

The Director General saw a challenge for nuclear power plant operators and for WANO in helping to relaunch the nuclear option by:

To these ends, the Director General pledged further interaction between IAEA and WANO in rendering safety services to nuclear power plants and in sharing operational experience. It was incumbent on both organizations to help national regulatory bodies and operators to maintain the highest possible safety performance as a necessary pre-requisite for underpinning nuclear power's future.