INTRODUCTION

Nuclear energy is having a growth spurt. At the end of 2008 there were 435 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries, producing 16% of world electricity. Because of them, CO2 emissions from electricity generation are three billion tonnes less than they would be without them (life-cycle emissions are shown in Figure 10.2). There were 28 new reactors under construction, mostly in Asia, and more than 200 more in the planning stage, including 30 in the United States.

Economic growth is driving demand for more energy, and concerns about energy supply and cost of fuel dominate the move to more nuclear power. The emission-free nature of the system is an environmental bonus. In all energy sectors of the world economy, demand for electrical energy is growing fastest (including for transportation), and how that electricity is made will determine how much and how fast greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced. Nuclear energy will play an important role everywhere, but perhaps not in the United States because of misplaced concerns about nuclear waste and radioactivity, and what may be the clumsiest system for making governmental technical decisions that could be devised.

First, a bit of history: when I was studying physics at MIT in the 1950s, nuclear physics was part of the standard curriculum. The nucleus and its constituents were then thought to be the smallest things (no longer so), and every physics student was expected to know the basics.