NUCNET NEWS

THE WORLD’S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY

09.11.2010 - No. 201 / News in Brief

IEA’s 2010 Outlook Report Highlights Nuclear Growth Potential

9 Nov (NucNet): The share of nuclear energy in world primary energy demand could increase from six percent in 2008 to eight percent in 2035 if governments stick to the broad energy policy commitments they have made, says the International Energy Agency’s latest ‘World Energy Outlook’.

This would mean an annual growth rate for nuclear of 2.2 percent, more than any other single energy type, the report says. Under this ‘New Policies Scenario’ coal would grow by 0.6 percent, oil by 0.5 percent and gas by 1.4 percent. Hydro would grow by 2 percent and biomass and waste by 1.7 percent.

The report, released today, assumes that government policies will boost nuclear energy in several countries and that a growing number of countries implement programmes to renew the lifetimes of their existing nuclear plants, reducing capacity that would otherwise be lost to retirement of aging reactors.

Under an alternative ‘450 Scenario’, which seeks to stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases at no higher than 450 parts per million (ppm) of CO2-equivalent (eq), renewables and nuclear would double their current combined share of total primary energy demand to 38 percent in 2035.

This scenario is based on The Copenhagen Accord, which established a non-binding objective of limiting the increase in average global temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Cutting emissions sufficiently to meet the 2°C goal would require a far-reaching transformation of the global energy system, the report says.

“The timidity of current commitments has undoubtedly made it less likely that the 2°C goal will be achieved,” the report says. “Reaching that goal would require a phenomenal policy push by governments worldwide: carbon intensity — the amount of CO2 emitted per dollar of GDP — would have to fall at twice the rate of 1990-2008 in the period 2008-2020 and four times faster in 2020-2035.

“The technology exists today to enable such a change, but such a rate of technological transformation would be unprecedented. These commitments must be interpreted in the strongest way.”

The 450 Scenario describes how the energy sector could evolve were the 2°C goal to be achieved.

Meeting the goal would bring about a much faster transformation of the global energy system and a correspondingly faster slowdown in global CO2 emissions. Oil demand would peak just before 2020 at 88 million barrels per day, only four million barrels per day above current levels, and decline to 81 million barrels per day in 2035. Coal demand would peak before 2020 and demand for gas would peak before the end of the 2020s.

The report says world energy demand will grow by more than a third over the next 25 years, led by increased consumption in China.

In the New Policies Scenario, non-OECD countries account for 93 percent of the projected increase in global energy demand, reflecting mainly faster rates of growth of economic activity.

China, where demand has surged over the past decade, contributes 36 percent to the projected growth in global energy use, its demand rising by 75 percent between 2008 and 2035.

For more information see the World Energy Outlook 2010 website: www.worldenergyoutlook.org

Source: NucNet
Editor: david.dalton@worldnuclear.org

05.11.2010 - No. 44 / World Nuclear Review

EC Proposal Calls For ‘National Programmes’ On Final Disposal

5 Nov (NucNet): The European Commission this week proposed safety standards for disposing of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste that include asking member states to present national programmes showing when, where and how they will build and manage final deep geological repositories.

Source: NucNet
Editor: david.dalton@worldnuclear.org

03.11.2010 - No. 197 / News in Brief

EC Proposal Calls For ‘National Programmes’ On Final Disposal

3 Nov (NucNet): The European Commission has today proposed safety standards for disposing of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste that include asking member states to present national programmes showing when, where and how they will build and manage final deep geological repositories.

The Commission said it had adopted a proposal for a European Council directive calling for a legally binding and enforceable framework to ensure that all EU member states apply common standards for all stages of spent fuel and radioactive waste management up to final disposal.

The proposed directive, which covers waste from nuclear power plants as well as from medicine or research, calls for countries to draw up national radwaste programmes within four years of the adoption of the directive.

These programmes should include plans for the construction and management of disposal facilities, including a concrete timetable for construction.

EU member states will have to transpose the directive into national law within two years of adoption by the European Council, which is expected in 2011.

National programmes will then have to be presented within four years of adoption, which could mean the end of 2015.

The Commission said two or more member states can agree to use a final repository in one of them, but reiterated that countries will not be allowed to export nuclear waste outside the EU for final disposal.

The directive would also see safety standards drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency become legally binding.

The Commission said that while low-level and medium-level radioactive waste is increasingly being taken care of, there is not yet a single final repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. It is likely, however, that the first such repositories will be opened between 2020 and 2025 in several EU countries.

The text of the proposed directive consists of proposals made by the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (Ensreg). Ensreg, a group of senior national nuclear regulatory officials, presented its suggestions for the content of the directive in June 2010.

Foratom, the Brussels-based nuclear energy industry group, said although quantities of radioactive waste are small compared to other toxic wastes, a legally binding text is important to ensure that all member states define and implement national programmes for the management of radioactive waste.

For more information on today’s announcement: ec.europa.eu

The text of the proposed directive is online: ec.europa.eu