Status of and perspectives for advanced nuclear power reactors and the role of the IAEA

Nuclear energy is an essentially unlimited energy resource with the potential to provide this energy in the form of electricity, district heat and process heat under environmentally acceptable conditions. However, this potential will be realized only if nuclear power plants can meet the challenges of increasingly demanding safety requirements, economic competitiveness and public acceptance. Advanced reactors now being developed could help to meet the demand for new plants in developed and developing countries, not only for electricity generation, but also for district heating, desalination and for process heat. The IAEA, as the only global international governmental organization dealing with nuclear power, promotes international information exchange and international co-operation between all countries with their own advanced nuclear power programmes and offers assistance to countries with an interest in exploratory or research programmes. (author)