MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - About 130 new nuclear power plants may be built in the world in the next 15 years, a deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said at an international conference in Moscow Wednesday. Yury Sokolov told the conference, Multilateral Technical and Organizational Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle to Strengthen the Non-Proliferation Regime, that 440 nuclear power plants produced 16% of the world's electricity.
"Their capacity may increase to 427-430 gigawatts in the next 20 years," he added.
Sokolov said the IAEA was increasing control over uranium enrichment technologies and fuel use. "This is a matter of serious concern for the IAEA," he said.
The official said a series of measures had to be taken in this sphere. In particular, he highlighted efforts to limit access to materials that may be used to produce nuclear weapons at civil nuclear facilities; to ensure that new nuclear materials are only produced at IAEA-controlled facilities; and to support for the design of energy systems that cannot be used for military purposes.
"Today we are facing a dilemma - how to ensure mankind's stable development and resolve the energy problem," Sokolov said. Nuclear power may help resolve the problem of energy resources, he added.
