Nuclear technology needs to remain part of the energy mix despite safety concerns following the disaster in Japan, says a top International Energy Agency (IEA) official.
An earthquake and tsunami on March 11 crippled three reactors at Japan's Fukushima plant and led to radiation leakages from spent fuel-storage tanks. That should not stop countries from considering nuclear power, said Richard Jones, the deputy executive director of the IEA, the organisation that represents 28 energy-consuming nations.
"The problem is if you start betting on any one technology, then something can happen and derail that technology," he said on the sidelines of an energy ministers' meeting yesterday in Abu Dhabi.
"Every technology has its Achilles' heel, and in the nuclear case the safety issue has been raised. But if you look at it, this plant survived a 9 [magnitude] earthquake without a core breach. It wasn't an accident, it was a natural disaster. There's a big difference."
He spoke a month after Abu Dhabi broke ground on the proposed site of its US$20 billion (Dh73.45bn) first nuclear plant, part of the emirate's plan to diversify its energy mix and free-up more fossil fuels for lucrative export.
Mr Jones was in the capital to present a report on progress in renewable energy adoption to energy officials from the US, the UAE and other nations.
In the past decade coal has met 47 per cent of new power demand, and to meet targets to combat climate change the efficiency of such plants needs to be improved, he told ministers.
Governments should also back the adoption of hybrid vehicles and at least 100 projects in carbon capture and storage technology in the next decade, in which carbon dioxide emissions from industrial plants or power stations are buried underground, added Mr Jones.
Yesterday, the price of Brent crude, the European benchmark, hit a two-and-a-half year high, reaching $122.75 a barrel in intraday trading.
A civil war in Libya that has halted crude shipments, and continuing political unrest in other parts of the region, have caused oil prices to soar and forced producers - including Saudi Arabia and the UAE - to increase production.
The price of oil has also been pushed upward by concerns over the future of nuclear power. Countries around the world have launched safety reviews or imposed halts on nuclear power production at older plants in response to public safety concerns sparked by Fukushima.
"I think with confidence that these problems can be dealt with," said Mr Jones, a US career diplomat. "More likely what it'll mean is more of a delay while countries reassess their policies and look at the safety of their existing plants, they look at emergency response capabilities, and they decide whether to licence new plants, whether or not they want to wait for new technologies.
"The problem with nuclear is that it's such a capital-intensive technology that it really depends on what the interest rates are when you make the investment, so it's the capital costs that drive the overall cost of nuclear.
"But you know right now capital costs are low, so it's a good time to build nuclear power plants from a cost perspective. Now, we have these other concerns, obviously," Mr Jones said.
ayee@thenational.ae
