Iran's arguments for nuclear power
thelasian
By Paul Hughes
2 March 2005 Reuters News
English
(c) 2005 Reuters Limited
TEHRAN, March 2 (Reuters) - Iran's argument that despite vast oil and
gas
reserves it needs nuclear power to meet booming energy demand holds
more
water than U.S. officials give credit.
But Tehran, which denies U.S. accusations that it is secretly seeking
nuclear arms, is on shakier ground with its insistence on producing its
own fuel for atomic reactors through uranium enrichment - a costly
endeavour, both economically and politically, for the Islamic state.
In the absence of a "smoking gun", Washington often says the fact Iran
is
the No. 2 producer in OPEC and sits on the second biggest natural gas
reserves in the world is enough to make its atomic ambitions
suspicious.
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee of Britain's parliament said last
March that based on a study it commissioned: "It is clear ... that the
arguments as to whether Iran has a genuine requirement for domestically
produced nuclear electricity are not all, or even predominantly, on one
side."
Some U.S. arguments against Iran "were not supported by an analysis of
the
facts" the committee added, noting that much of the natural gas flared
off
by Iran - which U.S. officials say could be harnessed instead of
nuclear
power - was not recoverable for energy use.
Iranian officials are quick to point out that before the 1979 Islamic
revolution, which brought clerics to power, the United States firmly
supported its ally the Shah's plans to build up to 23 atomic reactors
by
1994.
"At that time we were the second biggest oil producer in the world. Now
we
are the fifth and our population has almost tripled," Ali Akbar Salehi,
an
adviser to Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and an expert on nuclear
affairs, told Reuters.
HEAVY ENERGY CONSUMER
Nearly 40 percent of Iran's 4 million barrels a day oil output is
consumed
locally. Iran imports hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of
gasoline a
year to meet demand.
"It's true we're an energy-rich country, but we are a heavy consumer as
well," said Salehi.
Precious oil export revenues, on which the state-dominated economy is
highly dependent, would be wasted on electricity production, Iran says.
Natural gas is more valuable as feedstock for petrochemical plants, it
adds.
"Despite being very rich in energy (resources), nuclear energy makes
perfect sense," agreed Pavel Baev, an analyst at the Oslo-based
International Peace Research Institute.
With a youthful population of nearly 70 million and a fast-growing
economy, energy consumption is rising by around 7 percent annually.
Iran
estimates that it may need capacity to generate some 90 GW by 2020,
from
about 31 GW at present.
About three quarters of current electricity needs come from gas-fired
power stations, and the rest from hydroelectricity or oil.
Iran is experimenting with wind power and geothermal energy but says it
wants to produce at least 7 GW from nuclear power by 2020. The first
1,000
MW reactor, being built with Russian help in the southern port of
Bushehr,
will come onstream next year.
Nuclear energy is cleaner than fossil fuels and its higher cost of
production does not take into account the opportunity cost lost from
the
more profitable uses for hydrocarbons and likely future penalties for
burning fossil fuels, Iran says.
"Iran wants to ... change its energy portfolio in favour of clean and
renewable sources, as recommended by the Kyoto protocol," Mohammad
Hossein
Adeli, Iran's ambassador to the UK, wrote in the Financial Times last
month.
Iran is not the only resource-rich country to diversify its energy
needs
away from hydrocarbons. Fellow OPEC member Venezuela meets more than 70
percent of its electricity demand from hydroelectric power. Russia, a
major oil exporter with huge gas reserves, is a leading nuclear energy
power.
ENRICHMENT NOT VIABLE
But Moscow, which hopes to play a major role in Iran's nuclear energy
expansion plans, says Iran's attempt to develop a full atomic fuel
cycle,
including uranium enrichment - the most sensitive aspect of its nuclear
programme - is not economically viable.
"There is technically proven data, which shows the creation of a full
cycle for a country with less than eight to 10 reactors worth 1,000
megawatts each, is not feasible and in fact ruinous," Alexander
Rumyantsev, head of Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, said on Monday. "We
keep telling this to the Iranians."
Iran has paid a high political cost for refusing to scrap uranium
enrichment, which can be used to make bomb-grade, as well as reactor,
fuel.
It risks being hauled before the U.N. Security Council and could even
face
military attack unless it can reach agreement on its atomic plans in
talks
with the European Union.
But Tehran says it has learned from past experience that it cannot be
dependent on others.
"We need to spend $10 to $12 billion to build the seven nuclear power
plants," said Salehi. "Imagine after building them they say we cannot
supply your nuclear fuel, what should we do? We cannot challenge the
world
to give us the fuel, so we have to have security of supply."
(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in Vienna).