Kazakhstan, Astana, April 7 / Trend A. Maratov /
The UK government has established an expert group that is studying the lessons learned from the accident at the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority head Barbara Thomas Judge told Trend.
"We have created an expert group that is closely studying the accident. All our nuclear energy experts are focused on the situation surrounding the reactor," Judge said.
She said the plant was built 40 years ago. Just before the earthquake, the Japanese government started to discuss the need to rebuild the station with its owners.
"In principle, the reactors withstood the earthquake, but they succumbed to the tsunami. This is also because they were built close to the shore, even though we know that a strong tsunami washed away an entire castle in the 18th century. This is an example of serious
neglect," she stressed. She added that her country's government is ready to help Japanese specialists at any time.
"The British have been engaged in building nuclear power plants for more than 40 years and can provide assistance. In due time, our specialists took part in the elimination the Chernobyl accident's consequences," Judge said.
She added that a full-scale test is underway to ensure that nuclear power plants in the UK comply with the necessary technological requirements. She recalled that 15-20 percent of the electricity in the world is produced at nuclear power plants.
"It's the same figure for both Europe and the UK," she said. Judge stressed that if outdated plants aren't decommissioned in the UK and new power plants aren't built, nuclear power will only account for two percent of all the power produced in the country by 2020.
"However, it does not mean that the world really abandon nuclear energy," Judge said.
She said the future is gas because it is easier to transport and is an ecologically clean product compared to traditional energy sources such as oil and coal. Judge is visiting Astana as part of the MINEX Central Asia-2011 mining business forum.