ASTANA – Nuclear electric power plants with capacities of 20 gigawatt need to be built worldwide annually to ensure environmental stability, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said.
“A calculation of the increase of generation from 390 to 930 gigawatt by 2050 was made on the basis of the climate agreements, including the Paris (agreement). It’s a challenge to us, our industry. This means that we have to build and commission up to 20 gigawatt annually in the next few years. The current rates of nuclear power plant construction are incomparable to this figure,” he said at a panel session during the opening of the topical pavilion at EXPO in Astana on Friday.
Two-thirds of hydrocarbon sources provide 13.5 billion tonnes of annual emissions, he said. Therefore, nuclear power plants should work on reducing emissions, he said.
“Nuclear generation accounts for some 11% of the electric power industry. It is approximately 390 gigawatt of electric power. If it was replaced with coal generation today, we would get another two billion tonnes of emissions. Therefore, nuclear energy is equal to all forests of the world. It’s impossible to replace them, but it is our duty to give them a certain strength reserve,” Likhachev said.
