Report: Renewable energy, radioactive-waste services on the rise

A report from BCC Research, released on Monday, indicates that renewable energy will begin to grow and take the place of fossil fuel-based electricity generation in Asian, Eastern European and North American countries.

The report also said the global market for radioactive waste management will reach $18.8 billion in 2015 and $21.3 billion by 2020.

“In the longer term, the outlook of the global radioactive waste management market is positive, with almost 70 new nuclear power plants under construction and a further 179 in the planning stage,” BCC research analyst Nikos Thomopouls said. “Growth is dominated by Asia, with 46 percent growth in China, and another 30 percent in India, South Korea and Russia. The long-term challenge for Europe and the U.S. is how the electricity generated today by nuclear power plants is to be replaced when old plants reach their maximum life and decommissioning programs have to be implemented."

Waste transportation and disposal technologies made up about 17.1 percent of total sales in 2014 and should increase to 17.3 percent by 2020. Physical-treatment technologies accounted for the second-largest share of the market in 2014, at 16 percent, and containment and storage technologies accounted for the third-largest share, at 12.8 percent.

The BCC report predicts that overall energy demand will increase by approximately 30 percent in the next 20 to 25 years.