Framatome ANP - AREVA

Industry InsightsNuclear Power and SustainableThe World Energy Council(WEC) is the leading global,multi-energy organization, withnational member committees in 96countries worldwide. WEC covers allforms of energy, including coal, oil,natural gas, nuclear, hydro and otherrenewables. Its mission is to promotethe sustainable supply and use ofenergy for the greatest benefit of all.Through a wide range of publications,programs and activities, WEC workstoward influencing energy policy andpractice in a global, multi-energycontext and increasing understandingof key energy issues nationally, regionallyand globally. For more informationabout the World Energy Council, visitthe website at www.worldenergy.org.At last September’s World Summiton Sustainable Development inJohannesburg, a key theme wasbalancing the eradication of povertywith the fundamental need forsustainable development. Unlike Rioten years ago, almost no one inJohannesburg was buying the earlydemise of fossil fuels or nuclear powerin the world’s energy mix. Certainnon-government organizations madetheir disappointment known, but theywere admonished by the developingcountries themselves, where twobillion people do not have access toany commercial energy, resulting ingreat risk to their health, human rightsand the environment.The focus in Johannesburg was lesson the environment and more onsuch key issues as access to commercialenergy as part of a global effortto eradicate poverty. This echoesWEC’s long-standing emphasis onthe importance of achieving accessto commercial energy for those whodo not now have it. To achieve thisgoal, WEC sees the following asnecessary actions:• Keeping all energy options open(including the safe use of nuclearpower and the promotion ofrenewables)• Market reform• Developing stable regional tradepolicies, clear legal frameworksand sensible regulations forenergy development• Increasing efficiency throughcompetition and technologydiffusion• Implementing advanced, cleanertechnologies to reduce the impactof human-induced emissions onthe quality of human life and thenatural world around usThese goals are closely related. Tradeand technology drive economicgrowth, which is the prerequisite foraddressing poverty and access to energy.This in turn is closely linked to energyavailability and energy acceptability.WEC believes that acting now toachieve these goals will contribute toa reduction in political tensions andpromote greater harmony in the world.While many poor continue to livein rural areas, most of the nexttwo billion people to be born indeveloping countries will likely livein cities. Nuclear must be part of thesolution to their energy demands andenvironmental problems. But to befully successful, nuclear must bewidely accepted by society. This meansthat governments should play anactive role, educating society not onlyabout nuclear waste but also aboutCO 2 and other emissions. Electricityconsumers who have the choicemust start comparing the risks of alltechnologies. Politicians should initiatedebate, assist countries whose reactorsare unsafe and ensure a level playingfield in the energy market. Andthe nuclear industry must becomeresponsible for itself – more transparent,independent and able to show throughits long-term calculation of economicand safety performance that it cansurvive in the marketplaceOf course, if fossil fuel prices rise inthe shorter term – either because ofthe cost of new, cleaner technologiesMr. Doucet, a Canadian, became Secretary Generalof the World Energy Council in 1998. The work ofthe World Energy Council, a global organizationestablished in London in 1923 with over 90 membercountries, embraces a broad range of energy issuesincluding energy scenarios, energy marketstructures, environment and energy poverty.4 Advanced Nuclear Power N O 7 April 2003