Nuclear energy became anathema after nuclear plant accidents released radioactivity into the environment. But in the wake of environmental accidents due to oil spills and growing concerns about the environmental impact of burning coal, nuclear power is making a comeback.
More than 100 new nuclear power plants are planned to come online, worldwide, over the next 10 years. Lessons learned since Three-Mile Island insure that the new reactors will be safer.
Still a challenge to acceptance and wide-spread use of nuclear power is the disposal of high-level nuclear wastes (HLW), especially the spent fuel rods, which may continue to emit dangerous levels of radiation for a million years. Disposal of HLW is not just a scientific issue but a political hot potato.
Image of the atom from here.
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