Power-hungry world embraces nuclear energy

Nuclear power is on the rise here and abroad after decades of dormancy, driven by the need for a cleaner environment and steady, secure sources of power in the Internet age.

In the United States, plans are on the drawing board to build as many as six new power plants — the first since 1973 — while hundreds more are under consideration in China, India, Russia and other countries.

“Nuclear power is experiencing a budding renaissance,” said Steven Taub, director of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. “High fossil-fuel prices, low interest rates, and concerns about the environment and energy security have all combined to increase momentum in the construction of new nuclear plants around the globe.”

With worries about terrorism now paramount in the minds of the public and political leaders, concerns about safety that haunted nuclear utilities for decades appear to have receded, replaced by increasing confidence that after a half-century of operating without causing a major public health hazard in the United States, nuclear plants have by and large proven to be safe.

A new generation of power plants on the drawing board, some with automatic methods of shutting down in emergencies, promises to be safer than before.

But analysts say that in light of lingering worries caused by the Three Mile Island crisis in the U.S. and the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, the industry will have to continue giving top priority to ensuring public safety if it is to succeed, especially in Western countries.

Feeding the growing public acceptance, some prominent environmentalists who formerly were vocal opponents of nuclear power have turned into advocates, saying it is one of the only ways to satisfy demands for power around the world without increasing emissions that pollute the air and contribute to global warming.

Patrick Moore, a Greenpeace co-founder who gained fame in the 1960s leading opposition to nuclear testing, now says nuclear power is a better choice than coal, oil or natural gas for meeting the world’s power needs.

“Nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand,” Mr. Moore told the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy and resources in April. “There is now a great deal of scientific evidence showing nuclear power to be an environmentally sound and safe choice.”

In an age in which the threat of terrorism helped send the price of oil soaring to a record $67 per barrel last week, nuclear power has earned a reputation as a reliable power source that would help the United States reduce its dependency on fuel imported from hostile states.

Asia leads the way

The growing power needs of rapidly developing countries such as China, India and Russia also have acted as a catalyst for change. China’s electricity demands have doubled during the past decade, and although it has become the second-largest power producer after the U.S., China suffers chronic power shortages.

Few other power sources can deliver the large loads of electricity the country’s 1.3 billion potential customers need without causing widespread ecological damage.

China’s Three Gorges Dam, for example, will produce more power than any other hydroelectric plant in the world when it goes on line in 2007, but at the cost of displacing more than a million people, inundating a scenic national treasure and endangering rare species of fish.

China, like the United States, has plenty of coal. But its coal-fired power plants have blanketed the countryside with haze and choking emissions that contribute to an estimated 400,000 premature deaths each year, according to the International Energy Agency.

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