Nuclear energy future

The first International Scientific Forum on Energy in November, 1977 was subtitled "Nuclear Energy Future of the World" and was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The white paper issued on this occasion had favorable recommendations on nuclear energy and the cosigners of this declaration included some of the biggest names of the nuclear era. 

Nov. 1977 Fort Lauderdale, FL Nuclear Energy Future of the World... 

Some believe that a nuclear energy future is a possible option to follow the age of the fossil fuels. Many believe that because it does not emit carbon, nuclear power can save us from climate disaster. These people do not realize that uranium-235 (the only naturally occurring fissionable material) is... 

In fact, it is well known that modem processing and fuel cycle technology allows for a sustainable, and perhaps even a perpetually renewable, future energy scenario using nuclear energy. Future ARs will breed and recycle fuel. Therefore, waste streams will be drastically reduced, separation and burning of long-lived actinides will occur, and repositories will only be needed just for less than a thousand, not for the unnecessary million years (US DOE, 2007, 2006). 

A low-energy-future scenario envisioned in the late 1970s. By 2000, the energy being consumed from petroleum, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power were all on the rise, and renewable energy supplied a smaller fraction of total energy. 

Sekimoto H, Nakamura H, Takagi N. 1996. Toxicity of radioactive wastes discharged from nuclear energy center in the future equilibrium state. Ann Nucl Energy 23(8) 663-668. 

On the occasion of the Global Foundation s 20h Energy Conference, Environment and Nuclear Energy , held in Washington, DC, from October 27-29, 1997, the undersigned have considered global energy needs for the future and, also, world development to meet this demand in an environmentally acceptable way. 

The significant environmental challenges associated with increased energy use, coupled with increasing competition for fossil fuel supplies, suggest that nuclear power should continue to be an important part of the mix in planning the energy future. 

To ensure a viable future for nuclear power as a key component of the world s energy mix, nuclear energy research and development is key. 

In May, 1991, Hemy Thomas, a former Assistant Secretary ofEnergy and executive of the American Gas Institute, described his vision for an energy future in the US to participants at a Federal executive seminar on foreign policy. He described nuclear power as safe - but then said that natural gas would become the energy resource of choice because of the inability to manage nuclear wastes. 

Further, the threat of future wars may be diminished if the world is less critically dependent on oil. Competition over oil resources was an important factor in Japan s entry into World War n and in our military response to Iraq s invasion of Kuwait. Nuclear energy can contribute to reducing the urgency of such competition, albeit without eliminating it. 

A more limited, but potentially quite useful, step would be to establish in the United States a nuclear energy "think tank" where alternative nuclear futures could be analyzed critically by participants from universities, industry, government agencies, and private policy groups. The goal would be to further the safety and economy of nuclear power. 

The point is that there are no technical nuclear problems without rational solutions. The key problems are public misconceptions and the resulting institutional impediments which can impact on the potential of nuclear energy to meet future world needs. 

The one available means to significantly meet future world energy needs, while avoiding the fossil fuel problems, is to expand the use of nuclear energy. The key... 

At the state level, there is growing awareness of the essential role of nuclear power in meeting Clean Air Act requirements, and the continued importance of emission free nuclear energy in the future. Just ask the state of Georgia, which is concerned about the... 

Finally. 42% of the general public and 52% of college-educated voters agree we should definitely build more nuclear energy plants in the future. Even those numbers are respectable. 

If H2 is made from renewable fuels such as biomass, or nuclear energy, or fossil fuel resources with C02 capture and sequestration, it would be possible to generate emission-free electricity in the future. 

A particularly intriguing potential application of this reaction is the upgrading of the products of Fischer-Tropsch catalysis to increase the eventual yield of desirable n-aUcane chain lengths (typically C9-C19). FT catalysis, already practiced on a large scale commercially, may prove to be a key route to the future utilization of coal, biomass, or other nonpetroleum carbon sources (including CO2 reduction powered by solar, wind, or nuclear energy) [51, 52]. 

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