Advancement in Nuclear Power Generation

Description

Nuclear power is mostly generated by fission of uranium, plutonium or thorium. Today most power is mainly generated via uranium, which is considerably rare in earth. Thorium is seen as the next generation fission fuel as there are vast thorium reserves on earth (67% of entire reserves are in India). The basic energy fact is that the fission of an atom of uranium produces 10 million times the energy produced by the combustion of an atom of carbon from coal. Present reactors that use only the U-235 in natural uranium are very likely good for some hundreds of years. With breeder reactors, we can have plenty of energy for some billions of year.

Some major research and development is underway to generate power by controlling fusion of hydrogen into helium. However a successful implementation of nuclear fusion to generate power would take a considerable time.

Enablers:

1. R&D investment in nuclear technology
2. Limits on green house emissions
3. Collaboration to share nuclear technology
4. High oil and gas prices
5. Switch to thorium reactors
6. Political will

Inhibitors:

1. Threat of using reactors to produce fuel for war heads
2. Safety of the reactor
3. Time required to build a nuclear power plant
4. Disposal of nuclear waste in case of conventional nuclear power plant
5. Uranium reserves insufficient to sustain power requirements for more than 100 years

Paradigms:

The developments in the nuclear power generations are relevant to climate change negotiations. The major source of green house emissions is still the use of coal to produce electricity. Considering the heavy reliance of developing nations like India and China on cheap coal to meet their power needs, nuclear power offers a long term solution. A breakthrough in nuclear technology could result in a major shift in standpoints of negotiating parties.

Experts:

Experts promote nuclear power as an important solution to reduce green house gases. The debate on nuclear waste is a concern but experts believe that use of thorium in breeder reactors would not only drastically reduce the waster generation, but it would also allow for using existing nuclear waste to generate power. Thorium based reactors are still not very common but countries like India have some and still are investing huge sums of money on their advancement. Some experts also believe that these reactors are much safer and they cannot be used to fuel nuclear warheads.

Web Resources

1. The Future of Nuclear Power
2. Future of Nuclear Power
3. The Nuclear Option
4. Nuclear Energy
5. Is nuclear power the future? Obama calls for more plants
6. World Nuclear Power Reactors & Uranium Requirements
7. Video Thorium Energy Futue
8. http://www.thoriumenergyalliance.com/