![]() Existing nuclear reactors generate 500 megawatts to 1 gigawatt of electricity. The latest trend in nuclear is the small modular reactor (SMR), which generates a fraction of the energy of traditional reactors, but at a fraction of the cost. These large plants could generate enough energy to power millions of homes, but they also required decades of time and billions of dollars to build. The reactors of the 20th century were large, expensive behemoths. One of the biggest recent advances in nuclear energy has been making reactors smaller. NuScale is making plans to build the first small-scale nuclear plant in the U.S., with 12 reactors. In particular, there are three opportunities that nuclear advocates see as a pathway to redeeming nuclear energy in the 21st century. ![]() However, there’s also something captivating about a redemption arc. Like any comeback story, there are major barriers to overcome, and there’s no guarantee of success. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Some experts are skeptical that these new technologies will be able to achieve their intended advantages at a reasonable cost, in a manner safe enough to confidently allay concerns - at least not without huge government subsidies, which seem unlikely in the U.S. Many new models of nuclear power generation technology exist, varying in size, design and market-readiness, but they share some critical features designed to make them safer and more versatile than previous models. "It’s a little bit like how cars or airplanes now are different from what they were 15, 20, 30, 40 years ago," said Jacopo Buongiorno, a nuclear engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its proponents are attempting to fix the flaws of the past and fulfill a new vision for the future, one that they hope will feature nuclear fission as a plentiful, low-carbon energy source. However, a new generation of nuclear technology could change the outlook. Globally, the nuclear industry is expected to experience compound annual growth rates ranging between 2.5 percent (China) to 2.8 percent (Germany). electricity supply, but the country has built only one commercially operational nuclear reactor in the 21st century. That may be why nuclear engineering has faltered in the U.S. There’s no denying real and grave risks when things go wrong with nuclear power. ![]() Accidents such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima have raised doubts about nuclear’s potential as a clean and reliable power source. Nuclear technology also has been misused unintentionally, due to negligence and poor design. That was the only use of atomic weapons in a military conflict, but the specter of the atomic bomb has loomed large ever since, particularly during the Cold War. This summer marked the 75th anniversary of the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 100,000 to 200,000 people in Japan. At first, it was misused intentionally, as a means of violence. Unfortunately, almost as soon as this breakthrough was achieved, it was misused. Not only can this process generate large amounts of heat and power, but it can do so without emitting climate-warming gases. The atom was long thought to be the smallest possible unit of matter, its name deriving from the ancient Greek for "uncuttable." Then, in the early 20th century, scientists found a way to divide large atoms by bombarding them with wayward neutrons, releasing a colossal amount of energy. The splitting of the atom is arguably one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements.
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