Nuclear power's changing future - Fastest growth in Asia

Twenty-two of the last 31 nuclear power plants (NPPs) connected to the world's energy grid have been built in Asia, driven by the pressures of economic growth, natural resource scarcity and increasing populations. Of the new NPPs presently under construction, 18 of the 27 are located in Asia, while construction has virtually halted in Western European and North American countries with long-standing nuclear power programmes, says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA reports that although four Western European countries have decided to shut down their nuclear energy plants, the future of nuclear energy in Europe and North America is still far from clear, during a period when energy needs and concerns over global warming are both rising. Only one new NPP is beginning construction in Western Europe. No new NPPs are planned in North America, although that could change very soon. The Conference examines the status and future of nuclear power 50 years after the first nuclear energy producing plant came on-line, at a plant near Moscow in the then Soviet Union on June 26, 1954. It covers the following topics: Nuclear Prospects in Near and Long-Term; Nuclear Power Today: Shifting to the East; Climate Change and Economics: Factors for Growth (NPPs Avoid Carbon Emissions, Costs are Low at Operating Plants; New Plants are Expensive); the Key Issues are Safety and Waste management; Uranium resources are abundant; sustainable development