世界最大的核电设备供应商之一通用电气(General Electric)首席执行官表示，与其他形式的能源相比，核电成本如此之高，以至于"很难"证明其合理性。
Nuclear power is so expensive compared with other forms of energy that it has become "really hard" to justify, according to the chief executive of General Electric, one of the world's largest suppliers of atomic equipment.
杰夫•伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)表示："现在真的是天然气和风能的天下。"他指出，随着天然气变得"永久廉价"，大多数国家正在转向这两种发电来源。
"It's really a gas and wind world today," said Jeff Immelt, referring to two sources of electricity he said that most countries are shifting towards as gas becomes "permanently cheap".
伊梅尔特在伦敦接受英国《金融时报》采访时指出："当我在与石油公司高管谈话的时候，他们说，他们正勘探到越来越多的天然气。因此很难证明核电的合理性，真的很难。天然气这么廉价，到了某个阶段，经济性将决定一切。"
"When I talk to the guys who run the oil companies they say look, they're finding more gas all the time. It's just hard to justify nuclear, really hard. Gas is so cheap and at some point, really, economics rule," Mr Immelt told the Financial Times in an interview in London.
"因此我认为，目前世界上大多数国家正在转向天然气和风能或者天然气和太阳能的组合。"
"So I think some combination of gas, and either wind or solar … that's where we see most countries around the world going."
他的观点突显美国页岩气变革、日本福岛(Fukushima)核熔毁、以及某些可再生能源价格下降对全球能源格局产生的影响。这些因素给英国这样正试图在没有公共补贴条件下建设核电站的国家带来两难。与此同时，对于是否要设定新的目标，使发电行业到2030年基本实现零碳排放，英国执政联盟也存在分歧。保守党(Conservatives)反对，而自由民主党(Liberal Democrats)支持这项规划。
His comments underline the impact on the global energy landscape of the US shale gas revolution, Japan's Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and falling prices for some types of renewable power. Such factors pose dilemmas for countries such as the UK, which is trying to build nuclear plants without public subsidy. The ruling coalition is also split over whether to set a new target to make the electricity sector virtually free of carbon emissions by 2030 – a plan opposed by Conservatives but backed by Liberal Democrats.
伊梅尔特赞同自由民主党的立场并表示，通用电气认为欧盟(EU)的碳排放目标是有用的。他说："我认为有时候标准的确能够推动创新。"
Mr Immelt lent weight to the Lib Dem argument, saying that GE had found EU carbon targets helpful. "I think standards sometimes really drive innovation," he said.
分析师预计，通用电气从其与日立(Hitachi)合资企业得到的核电设备收入大约为10亿美元，不到其全球年销售的1%。
Analysts estimate GE's nuclear revenues, from a joint venture with Japan's Hitachi, at an estimated $1bn, or less than 1 per cent of annual global sales.
通用电气今天将宣布，2006年以来该公司在奥运举办城市的销售收入已经超过10亿美元，包括伦敦奥运的1亿美元。
GE will announce today that it has made more than $1bn in sales from Olympic host cities since 2006, including $100m from the London games.