There has been a lot of talk about “clean energy”. With the great concern about climate change, there has been a worldwide call to reduce greenhouse gases - in particular, the use of fossil fuels. Two of the major sources of pollution from fossil fuels are coal-fired power plants and transportation. I believe that nuclear power can be a solution. However, concerns over accidents and nuclear fuel disposal have prevented the expansion and development of nuclear power in recent years.
Nuclear power has been used for many years. The first commercial nuclear power plants started operation in the 1950s. There are currently over 400 nuclear power plants worldwide, providing about 10% of the world’s electricity. Nuclear power is the world’s second-largest source of low carbon power – but it could be the largest. Some countries like France get most of their electricity from nuclear energy. The U.S. has almost 100 nuclear reactors in operation and still leads the world in nuclear power generation - but it only supplies about 20% of the country’s electricity. About two thirds of electricity is generated by the burning of fossil fuels (coal and gas). Clean energy sources like hydro, wind and solar can’t compete - but nuclear could. Nuclear power plants operate at higher capacity factors than renewable energy sources or fossil fuels. That means they operate almost continuously compared to “intermittent energy sources” – the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow, and water doesn’t always fall through the turbines of a dam. Nuclear power plants typically operate at capacity factors that are two to three times that of any other source of electricity.
So, if nuclear power is reliable, clean, and economical, why don’t we use more of it? It’s because of two fears. Over its 70-year history with the deployment of hundreds of nuclear power plants, there have been three large-scale accidents – Three-Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and Fukushima in Japan. And there is still not a permanent solution to the disposal of spent fuel. These are both technical problems that can be solved, but there doesn’t seem to be enough incentive to resolve them. Modern nuclear reactors are safer, more reliable, and more efficient than the earlier designs. And there are new breakthroughs in nuclear power generation that could revolutionize the industry. As for the disposal problem, the technology exists to recycle spent fuel, which could support nuclear power generation for hundreds of years.
But the use of nuclear energy is not limited to power generation. For over 60 years, ships, mostly submarines, have been propelled by nuclear reactors. Currently there are over 160 nuclear powered submarines, aircraft carriers, and large icebreakers worldwide – all military vessels. But if nuclear energy has served the navies for so long as a reliable, efficient, and clean power source, why can’t it also be used commercially? There are over 50,000 large ships in the world’s merchant fleets. And there are about 100 very large cruise ships (with the typical capacity for more than 3000 passengers). These large ships, powered by fossil fuels, are a significant source of greenhouse gases and pollution. It would make sense to me that the commercial maritime industry start building their new large ships with nuclear power.
There are a lot of promising new technologies being developed for nuclear energy. Some of the latest nuclear reactors are smaller, simpler, and less expensive than their predecessors. And then there is nuclear fusion –– that uses hydrogen – the most common element in the universe – to create enormous amounts of energy - the power of the stars. After research and investment for over 60 years, we still do not have successful commercial fusion power. But this may be changing. Two traditional approaches to nuclear fusion reactors are “magnetic confinement” and “inertial confinement”. One uses huge magnets and the other powerful lasers. Both are very large and extremely expensive – and so far, not commercially viable. There are now several new technologies in development – primarily in the private sector – that offer the promise of smaller, more efficient, less expensive and practical solutions for fusion power. Among them are “Magnetized Target Fusion”, “Field-Reversed Configuration”, and “Stellarator”. Together with advanced computing capabilities, it appears that fusion power may become a reality in the foreseeable future. This would end the need for using fossil fuels for large power generation.
With these nuclear energy technologies available or within reach, I don’t understand why this is not a major priority.
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