Safe nuclear energy industry via new technologies

New technologies will keep nuclear power engineering industry safe and nations will not stop using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The opinion was voiced by Leonid Gusev, Senior Research Officer of the Analysis Center of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), BelTA has learned.

“Although shale gas and alternative energy technologies will continue developing, nuclear energy industry will stay anyway. First of all, both renewable energy sources and shale gas have their own negative sides. Shale gas is a non-renewable hydrocarbon resource and many countries, which use it now, may run into the problem of its shortage in 20-30 years. If developed correctly, nuclear power engineering will be in use for hundreds of years. It is perfectly understood in many countries. For instance, when Iranians are asked why they need nuclear energy industry while they have huge oil and gas deposits, they say that nuclear energy industry is meant for descendants because natural resources tend to get depleted while nuclear energy will last for centuries,” underlined the analyst.

“Apart from that, various harmful emissions into the atmosphere result in damage incommensurate with that of nuclear power plants. If new technologies are used in the nuclear energy industry, then safety will be secured. If nuclear power engineering is developed the right way, it will work for the benefit of the mankind only,” said the expert.

He also reminded that during the recent visit to Russia IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano stated that the international ministerial conference Nuclear Power in the 21st Century that will take place in Saint Petersburg in June 2013 may become a turning point in the development of the global nuclear power engineering industry. “At the conference countries are likely to reach an agreement on rules of using nuclear power and on new technologies taking into account that many advances have been made in this sphere in the last few years,” added the expert.