Nuclear Power Past, present and future 1st Edition – PDF/EPUB Version Downloadable

This book looks at the early history of nuclear power, at what happened
next, and at its longer-term prospects. The main question is: can
nuclear power overcome the problems that have emerged? It was once
touted as the ultimate energy source, freeing mankind from reliance on
dirty, expensive fossil energy. Sixty years on, nuclear only supplies
around 11.5% of global energy and is being challenged by cheaper energy
options. While the costs of renewable sources, like wind and solar, are
falling rapidly, nuclear costs have remained stubbornly high. Its
development has also been slowed by a range of other problems, including
a spate of major accidents, security concerns and the as yet unresolved
issue of what to do with the wastes that it produces. In response, a
new generation of nuclear reactors is being developed, many of them
actually revised versions of the ideas first looked at in the earlier
phase. Will this new generation of reactors bring nuclear energy to the
forefront in the future?