WB to help countries reduce nuclear risks

The World Bank is gearing up to help countries build safer nuclear power facilities by enhancing their technical capacity and strengthening institutional structures to mitigate project risks.

- MYRNA M. VELASCO

In an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the recently concluded World Nuclear Symposium, World Bank Senior Energy Specialist Lauren Culver indicated that they will not be funding nuclear power projects directly at this point, but their focus will be on helping governments de-risk planned installations by enabling them to strengthen their policies and regulatory frameworks so targeted investments would flow.

“The role of the World Bank is not necessarily on financial risk allocation — but it will be working with the government to help on planning, project preparation, in having that consistent policy - and in having that capacity enhancement overall; those would all reduce the risk to the public sector,” she qualified.

The capacity building collaboration that the World Bank would be pursuing with host countries, she noted, “can be different instruments and tools” — and that can come in the form of technical assistance or any risk-readiness mechanism that would qualify under its program.