Energy agency set to back more nuclear power plants
For the first time in its 32-year history, the International Energy Agency will urge governments next week to help speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants, as part of a cheaper, cleaner and safer global energy strategy.
Several countries, including India, China, the US and France, already plan more plants, and others such as the UK are considering new reactors. But some, including Germany and Spain, oppose more capacity.
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Fatih Birol, IEA chief economist, said: "We need a decision almost tomorrow if we are going to act before we reach a point of no return in climate and security of supply."
He said in an interview ahead of the release of the agency's World Energy Outlook that politicians needed to persuade reluctant voters that nuclear power was safe and necessary. They also needed to improve the climate for nuclear investment.
The IEA report - the first to offer advocacy rather than analysis - comes after the Group of Eight developed nations asked it last summer to come up with guidance on how governments could bolster energy security and combat global warming.
It will say nuclear power is an "essential tool" to meet energy security and climate change goals. The agency found nuclear power to be cost-competitive with coal and gas, and concluded there were enough uranium deposits to meet greater demand. The report will also push for greater energy efficiency and advocate renewable energy.
Mr Birol said the $17,000bn (￡8,900bn) the IEA calculated the world needed to invest in energy until 2030 had risen significantly because of cost inflation, and would be revised upwards. The report looks into whether the increased investments made by energy companies in the past five years have built more capacity or just covered the rise in costs.
"We are on an energy path that is vulnerable, dirty and expensive," the report says. Mr Birol said the goal was to "prepare an alternative path . . . to a cleaner, safer, less costly system".
A small group of companies lead the field of reactor technology. Areva of France is one of the biggest manufacturers of reactors in Europe, while Westinghouse and General Electric have strong positions in the US.
Nuclear plants in Europe are likely to be built and operated by bigger energy suppliers, led by EDF, Eon and RWE. In the US there is a wider range of private-sector players. In China, India and Russia any expansion would be by state-owned groups.
国际能源机构：世界应大力发展核电
国际能源机构(IEA)将于下周敦促各国政府协助推动新核电站建设，以保护能源供应，并防止环境灾害――这在其32年的历史中尚属首次。
尽管包括印度、中国、美国和法国在内的一些国家已经计划建立新的核电站，英国等一些国家也在考虑建立新的反应堆，但德国和西班牙等其它一些国家反对增加核电产能。
在国际能源机构主要出版物《世界能源展望》(World Energy Outlook)出版前夕，该机构首席经济学家法提赫?比罗尔(Fatih Birol)在采访中表示：“如果我们要在气候和供应安全问题变得不可逆转之前采取行动，眼下就需要做出决策。”
他表示，政界人士需要说服不情愿的选民，让他们相信核电是安全和必要的，同时还要创造有利的投资环境，让投资者进行必要的先期大规模资本支出。
这将是国际能源机构首份提出倡议而非分析的报告。八国集团(Group of Eight)曾于今夏要求该机构为各国政府提供指导，告诉它们如何才能加强能源安全，并对抗全球变暖。这份报告将指出，核电是实现这一目标的“基本工具”。
如果核电站建设重新启动，胜券在握的将是少数拥有先进反应堆技术的企业。法国核能集团阿海珐(Areva)是欧洲最大的反应堆制造商之一，而西屋公司(Westinghouse)和通用电气(GE)在美国拥有强大的实力。
在欧洲，新电站的建设和运营可能会落到法国电力公司(EDF)、德国Eon和RWE等大型能源供应商手中。
美国有很多私营公司，如杜克能源公司(Duke Energy)，但在中国、印度和俄罗斯，核电产能的增加可能会由国家掌控。
