Nuclear still main alternative to oil: ex-IAEA chief Dubai (AFP) April 17, 2011 The former head of UN atomic agency voiced confidence Sunday in nuclear energy as the only real alternative to oil despite a potential "setback" in the sector due to Japan's current disaster. "Today, nuclear power is the only real alternative to fossil fuel as a source of a reliable supply," said Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei, speaking at the opening of the Dubai Global Energy Forum. ElBaradei, who stepped down as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in November, acknowledged that confidence in atomic energy has taken a severe blow after the tsunami-triggered disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. "Fukushima represents a potentially significant setback for nuclear power," he told participants in the forum, stressing, however, that confidence will be "reestablished in due course". The six-reactor nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was hit by a 14-metre (46-foot) tsunami on March 11, triggering the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. "Chernobyl and Fukushima should be shown to be aberrations," he said. ElBaradei is now a prominent pro-democracy figure in Egypt, and is a potential presidential candidate after protests forced former president Hosni Mubarak to step down after ruling the country for three decades.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Chernobyl survivor still backs nuclear energy Singapore (AFP) April 16, 2011 It happened a quarter of a century ago but Sergei Belyakov still remembers vividly how much he suffered from high radiation exposure after the Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown. "I was extremely weak, my motion senses were altered and I had difficulty breathing normally," said the Ukrainian-born scientist, part of a Soviet clean-up crew assigned to tackle the world's worst nuclear plant disas ... read more |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |