At the time of the annual World Nuclear Fuel Conference currently being held in Sydney, it is timely to put the nuclear industry into perspective.

Professor Richard Broinowski, Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney and a former Australian Ambassador, said: "Two massive impediments stand in the way of any nuclear ‘renaissance’. The first is an economic problem. Despite pro-nuclear declarations to the contrary, the global nuclear power industry's share of electricity generation is falling not rising. In September 2008, 439 nuclear reactors were producing 372 gigawatts of power in 31 countries, about 14 percent of the world’s commercial electricity. This was down from 16 percent in 2005 and 15 percent in 2006.

"Even to maintain the nuclear power status quo, 40 new reactors generating 40,000 megawatts would have to start up by 2015. An additional 192 reactors generating 168,000 megawatts would have to be commissioned over the subsequent decade. Given the fall-off in technical nuclear expertise and massive cost overruns and delays in reactor construction, this is a daunting task. Building more reactors to increase the percentage of nuclear-generated electricity in the same timeframe is an impossible one.

"The second impediment to the nuclear renaissance is a security one. Even the latest generations of nuclear reactors produce fissile materials suitable for nuclear weapons. The more reactors that are built around the world, the more nuclear weapons fuel is available for diversion.

"Meanwhile, the international safeguards system in place since the early 1970s to protect us from nuclear weapons proliferation is failing. Its main instrument, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is losing international respect, and its main enforcement agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is too short or funds and qualified personnel to enforce its regulations.

"There are now nine nuclear weapons states with several more on the threshold of acquisition. Until the five ‘conventional’ nuclear weapons states (America, Russia, China, Britain and France) honour their treaty obligations to rid themselves of nuclear weapons, the motivation of other states to acquire them will continue. No one can abide double standards.

"The task of reining in the nuclear power industry is urgent. The task of negotiating an internationally respected non-proliferation regime that encourages the nuclear powers to disarm and non-nuclear powers not to acquire nuclear weapons is imperative."