IAEA Director General: More NPPs will be built in the future

Nuclear energy will be used more broadly worldwide, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in Singapore as he presented a report on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, information agencies report.

“The accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant (at the Fukushima NPP in the spring of 2011 – BelTA’s note), was a setback for the nuclear energy; some countries even suspended their nuclear projects. However, I have no doubts that more nuclear power plants will be built in the future,” Yukiya Amano said. In his words, the focus is shifting towards Asia where the role of nuclear power is increasing. He mentioned India and China where the demand for electric power is huge.

“The peaceful use of atom helps maintain energy security and improve the economic situation, however, after the Fukushima accident the construction and operation of NPPs became more expensive,” Yukiya Amano noted. He added that many countries have considerably increased the level of safety of their NPPs. In his words, some states, like Russia, Argentina and China, use the latest medium-power nuclear reactors. “This also improves the situation with nuclear safety,” the IAEA Director General said.

Yukiya Amano emphasized that each country has a personal responsibility for the safety of their nuclear power plants. “The task of the IAEA is to work out general requirements and standards and to make sure each country abides by them,” he explained.