Bureau Recommends: The future of nuclear
This Reuters Special Report asks: If in a modern, stable democracy like Japan there could be apparently lax regulatory oversight, failure of infrastructure, and a slow response to a crisis from authorities, then how others would handle a similar situation?
US diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks provide details of conditions in developing countries with nuclear power aspirations, countries such as Vietnam, Azerbaijan and India. The cables point to risks ranging from corruption to bad infrastructure .
The speed of the meltdown at the Fukishima nuclear plant in Japan was a wakeup call for nuclear regulators , but regulatory standards are not the only question, the piece notes. It was reported this month that Saudi Arabia is planning to build 16 nuclear power reactors by 2020 at a cost of more that $100 billion, IHS Energy analyst Samuel Ciszuk “In countries where you have an authoritarian, personalized power system in place, the very idea of a completely independent oversight body is anathema.”
Turmoil of the kind sweeping north Africa and the Middle East could affect the security of power plants and nuclear fuel – which some fear could be turned into weapons in case of a coup or if they fell into the hands of terrorists.
