IAEA says over 50 countries considering to utilise N-power

New York, Oct 17 (PTI) Over 50 countries have alerted the
International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) that they are
considering utilising nuclear power with Turkey and Vietnam
actively preparing their atomic programmes, the head of the
United Nations' atomic watchdog has said.

Addressing the 50th anniversary meeting of the Nuclear
Energy Agency (N.E.A.) of Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D.) in Paris, Mohamed
ElBaradei said that a decade ago, nuclear power's popularity
was in question.

"When we talked about transferring nuclear technology to
developing countries, we generally meant applications in
medicine and industry, not nuclear power," the I.A.E.A.
Director General said.

But the tides have turned and "change is in the air," he
said, with many of the agency's Member States – mostly from
the developing world – expressing interest in nuclear power.
He put the number of such countries to over 50.

One dozen countries, including Turkey and Vietnam, are
actively preparing nuclear programmes, while China is
constructing six power reactors and Russia intends to build
dozens of both large and small reactors by 2020.

Greater efforts are essential to ensure that nuclear
power's future is "safe, proliferation-resistant and
cost-effective," ElBaradei said.

"Every country has the right to develop nuclear power,
but also a responsibility to do it properly," he noted.

But, the I.A.E.A. chief cautioned that it is crucial to
have realistic expectations of how quickly countries can have
nuclear reactors online.

"It can take a minimum of 10 years just to put the basic
infrastructure in place. This is not an area where you can cut
corners."