World Bank bans nuclear power financing

The World Bank is re -entering the nuclear power location “for the first time in the decades,” its chairman Ajay Banga said on Wednesday, as it works towards meeting the growing demand for power in developing countries.Banga told the employees in an email that the bank will work closely with the United Nations Nuclear Sentinel International nuclear power agency (IAEA), “strengthening our ability to advise on non-ex-other security measures” and regulatory structures.This decision comes when the demand for electricity in developing countries exceeds double by 2035, Banga noted in a memorandum viewed by AFP.To meet this requirement, annual investment, grid and storage in energy production will be increased from $ 280 billion to about $ 630 billion today.“We will support the efforts to expand the lives of the existing reactors in countries that they already have, and will help support grid upgradation and supported infrastructure,” Banga said.Washington -based lenders will also work to speed up the capacity of “small modular reactors”, so they can eventually become a viable option for more countries.Banga, who took the development lender’s hull in 2023, has pushed the bank for a change in the energy policy of the bank – and his letter comes a day after the board meeting.Banga said, “Target countries have to help provide energy to their people, while they give them flexibility to choose the path that best fits their ambitions of development.”In addition to focusing on improvement in grid performance, he said that the institution will continue to finance the retirement or revival of coal plants, supporting carbon capture for industry and power generation.In April, on the occasion of the International Monetary Fund and Spring meetings of the World Bank, American Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said that the bank could use resources more efficiently by helping emerging countries promote energy access.He said that it should focus on “reliable technologies” instead of searching for “reliable climate finance goals”.This means investing in gas and other fossil fuel-based energy production.At that time Besant also appreciated the bank’s efforts towards lifting the ban on nuclear power support.Beyond the change in nuclear power financing, Banga said on Wednesday that the bank has yet to reach the agreement within its board whether it should “attach to upstream gas,” and under what circumstances it should do so.The United States, which is the largest shareholder of the World Bank, has launched a campaign for a group to ban nuclear projects in countries.