IAEA Chief Says Political Resistance To Nuclear Energy Dissolving As World Reaps Benefits

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2023) Worldwide political pushback against nuclear energy is dissipating as many realize it is a clean and reliable source of power, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi told Sputnik.

"The problem was that there was a lot of political pushback, and now this political pushback is dissolving because there is what I like to call a return to realism," Grossi said. "A return to realism in the sense that people are seeing that nuclear is efficient, nuclear is clean, very stable, reliable. So obviously, countries are looking into that."

Elon Musk or Bill Gates, for example, are business people who are betting on the potential of nuclear energy, he added.

"They see this activity as an activity that is going to grow in the future," Grossi said.

Musk has repeatedly said that countries should be increasing nuclear power generation. The entrepreneur said it is "insane" to shut down nuclear power plants unless the country is in a place with severe earthquakes or tsunamis.

After Germany shut down its last nuclear power plant in April, Musk said the move posed a huge national security risk and the timing could not be worse.

The billionaire also urged Germany to reopen the nuclear power plants that have already been shut down. Coal power plants, he added, are far more dangerous than nuclear power plants.