Prospects of Nuclear Power for Developing Countries

The demand for electricity in developing countries of the world is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades as these countries undergo the process of industrialization, accompanied by increased urbanization, and seek to improve the living standards of their growing population. The continued heavy reliance of the power sector on fossil fuels will result in an increased dependence of a number of the developing countries on energy imports, with consequentbalance of payment difficulties and implications in terms of reduced energy security, cause severe degradation of the local and regional environment, and will also lead to increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. Increasing the share of hydropower in most of the developing countries is constrained by the limited potential of hydro resources as well as environmental considerations. Other renewable energy technologies such as solar PV and wind power are not expected to play a significant role in the commercial supply of electricity in the foreseeable future in the most part of the developing world. Thus nuclear power as a non-fossil alternative with a proven and mature technology may be called upon to play an increasing role in the future supply of electricity to developing countries. The paper discusses the main factors that are likely to affect, both positively and negatively, the deployment of nuclear power in developing countries and presents the results of the recent IAEA projections on nuclear power capacity growth up to the 2020. The paper also briefly reviews the prospects of nuclear power in Central and Eastern European countries. (author)