| US energy boss calls for more nuclear | | Print | |
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The world needs a major increase in nuclear energy if it is to tackle pollution and greenhouse gas emissions US energy secretary Spencer Abraham said in a speech to the Generation IV International Forum in Washington. Mr Abraham said nuclear energy offers unique benefits that no other major energy source available today can provide. Foremost among those benefits, he said, is the fact that nuclear power emits none of the pollutants associated with the burning of fossil fuels. "Without nuclear energy - in fact, without a major increase in nuclear energy - we are much less likely to be able to affordably meet the world's growing demand for electricity. And we absolutely would not be able to produce all that electricity without accompanying increases in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions." Mr Abraham said in his speech, at the National Press Club on 14 January 2005. He sited the fact that some of the Generation IV designs are able to cogenerate hydrogen as another of the major benefits of the technology. These key properties of nuclear is why the administration has undertaken the Nuclear Power 2010 programme - an effort to make sure the US is ready to resume nuclear plant construction by the end of 2010. On perceived environmental concerns associated with nuclear Mr Abraham said, "Let's look at the environmental impact of not having nuclear energy. Without nuclear energy, the vast amounts of electricity the world will need in the future will be produced largely by coal and other fossil fuels. The increases in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from this additional generation capacity would be huge, easily surpassing any hoped-for reductions under the Kyoto protocol." |
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