LONDON, June 14 Nuclear energy continues to grow as a source of baseload electricity generation around the world, including the United States, according to two new reports.BP's World Energy Review, an annual look at the global energy sectors, found nuclear energy was the only source without a slowed growth rate in 2006. The report, released this month, found nuclear energy output gained by 1.4 percent.There are 436 nuclear reactors powering 16 percent of global electricity, 104 of which are in the United States, powering around 20 percent of the nation's electricity.That number is expected to increase as dozens of plants are in some stage of planning or construction, a nuclear boom responding to the increased demand for power, rising prices of oil and gas, and a potential charge levied on coal and other polluting fossil fuels."Without a price for carbon, there is no mechanism that can guide the energy system towards a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward wrote in the World Energy Review introduction. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's Nuclear Energy Agency said its new report shows nuclear reactors provided 23.1 percent of electricity for its 30 member states in 2006.According to Nuclear Energy Data, published Thursday, this is a 1.8 percent increase over 2005.Copyright 2007 by UPI
