Nuclear Energy

was subsequently endorsed by the heads of states of these countries at their annual Summit meeting
held in L´Aquila, Italy in July 2009. xlv
Along with the governments of the developed countries, various international organisations
controlled by them also began issuing enthusiastic statements in favour of nuclear power and
predicting a positive future for it. The OECD‘s World Energy Outlook (WEO), the US Dept of
Energy’s International Energy Outlook and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have
all given very optimistic projections about the future of nuclear energy in their recent reports. For
instance, the IAEA in its 2010 report projects that by 2030, nuclear energy generation should rise
from 2558 TWh at present (in 2009) to between 4040 TWh (low estimate) and 5938 TWh (high
estimate) – an increase of between 58% and 132%; likewise, it also estimates that the nuclear
generating capacity should rise to between 546 GW (low estimate) and 803 GW (high estimate) by
2030, from 372 GW at the end of 2009. xlvi
Swayed by this offensive, many prominent intellectuals from all over the world have also
publicly come out in support of nuclear industry propaganda that nuclear energy is a solution to
meet the world’s energy needs and simultaneously tackle the growing crisis of global warming. It is
a perfect example of what Professor Noam Chomsky, the world renowned scholar, has called
“Manufacturing Consent”: use of massive propaganda by those in power to control what people
think.
The effect has been an echo chamber of support for nuclear power. In jubilation, the nuclear
industry and its apologists have started proclaiming: “The “nuclear renaissance is here” (in the
words of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Chairman Dale E. Klein). xlvii
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