Nuclear power increasingly replacing traditional sources of power generation – Kemm

20th June 2017 By: Donna Slater - Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

The world is entering a new phase of energy development and nuclear-powered electricity generation has a key role to play in phasing out carbon-based energy generation, nuclear physicist and South African Nuclear Energy Corporation chairperson Dr Kelvin Kemm said during a plenary discussion at the yearly international nuclear forum Atomexpo 2017, which is being held in Moscow, Russia.

Kemm, who was moderating a panel discussion on the role of nuclear energy in carbonless power generation, explained the progression of the world involved periods in which there were leaps in technology, such as when steam-powered boats replaced wind-powered boats and when automobiles replaced horses and horse-drawn carts.

“The advancing of mankind is not always on a smooth curve, there are often leaps in technology when major advancements are made.”

He pointed to carbon-based forms of electricity generation as rapidly becoming outdated, especially in terms of their impact on the environment as a result of bulk emissions and the subsequent rise in greenhouse-gas emissions produced from such energy sources.

Kemm said the increasing use and refinement of nuclear power systems was rapidly replacing traditional sources of power generation.

*Dylan Slater is a guest of Rosatom at the Atomexpo in Moscow.