The Nuclear Renaissance
Timelines are critical, for sure. That is true both for those who see nuclear as a distasteful but potential important climate change mitigation technology, as well as those who see it primarily as a means of dealing with ever-more-expensive hydrocarbons. In the early days of its development during the 1960s and 1970s, nuclear power plants were built rapidly. After the first nuclear plant was connected to the civilian electric grid in the Soviet Union in 1964, hundreds of nuclear power plants have been built and operated around the world. Since the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986, few new nuclear power plants have been built and there has been staunch opposition to any new plant proposals.
Construction peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has largely flat-lined since. Few governments have risked stirring up a public outcry by announcing new nuclear power plants since the disaster at Chernobyl. Today nuclear power plants are operated by 31 countries around the world. And according to USA Today, the Obama administration proposed a plan that aims to slash carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants 30% by 2030 and could accelerate the nation's shift away from coal. But will lowering the amount of nuclear power in the US really be the right thing to do?
Construction peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has largely flat-lined since. Few governments have risked stirring up a public outcry by announcing new nuclear power plants since the disaster at Chernobyl. Today nuclear power plants are operated by 31 countries around the world. And according to USA Today, the Obama administration proposed a plan that aims to slash carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants 30% by 2030 and could accelerate the nation's shift away from coal. But will lowering the amount of nuclear power in the US really be the right thing to do?