Európa sa prikláňa k jadrovej energii
Mnohé krajiny považujú jadrovú energiu ako pozitívne riešenie energetickej situácie v budúcnosti.
"Going nuclear" has its benefits. And many countries with emerging markets think the potential gains outweigh the possible risks. Great Britain is in a particularly vulnerable position, as about 40% of its power plants are gas-fired. That means it is heavily dependent on natural gas imports from Russia and the Middle East.
Also, Gazprom OAR, Russia’s state-run energy monopoly supplies 25% of Europe’s gas. It has also hiked prices and threatened to cut supplies on a fairly routine basis. In August, Gazprom threatened to cut off gas supplies to Belarus in an attempt to extort payment on a $456 million debt. Belarus eventually acquiesced with a $190 million payment. Two months later, Gazprom threatened to cut supplies to Ukraine over a $1.3 billion debt.
So it’s no wonder why many European nations are beginning to consider nuclear power a plausible solution. France already relies on nuclear power for 80% of its electricity needs. Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania are planning new reactors.
Greenpeace’s Sauven said that the new power generators approved by the government would only add 4% more energy capacity. But Britain’s current nuclear power stations produce approximately 20% of the country’s energy supply, and all but one of them will be closed down by 2023. And environmentally speaking, the British government has also been charged with the task of cutting carbon emissions by 60% of 1990 levels by 2050.
"Set against the challenges of climate change, and security of supply, the evidence in support of new nuclear power stations is compelling," Business Secretary Hutton said.
"The British decision sends a very strong and positive signal to the industry," Colette Lewiner, who monitors energy for the Capgemini consultancy in Paris. "Britain will be the first European country after Finland and France to build new reactors, at a time when Belgium and Spain are revisiting their positions on whether to keep a moratorium on new nuclear facilities."
Zdroj: www.uraniumseek.com
17.01.2008