Nuclear Energy

With prices for oil and gas increasing all the time, and growing concern over the effects of greenhouse gases on the environment, nuclear power has become more attractive than ever. In 2005, 16 countries got more than 25% of their electricity from nuclear plants. Lithuania, France, Slovakia, and Belgium rely on nuclear power for more than 50% of their total electric power. Japan leads the way in Asia, with 53 nuclear generators - over twice as many as South Korea and 5 times as many as China. The U.S. and U.K. each generate nearly 20% of their total consumed electricity using nuclear sources.

[Source: U.S. Department of Energy, International Energy Outlook, 2006]

Nuclear power offers potential solutions to some of the current major environmental worries like global warming. These environmental incentives, together with engineering improvements in reactor design (reactors that are physically incapable of experiencing accidents like Three Mile Island or Chernobyl, for example) and safety procedures, have allayed many of the public's fears of the dangers of nuclear energy.

However, nuclear power brings new environmental concerns. All nations with nuclear power plants are still wrestling with the problem of nuclear waste disposal. Currently, most U.S. power plants store spent fuel onsite in huge pools of water, while other countries reprocess the fuel. But there is no question that more long-term engineering solutions are needed, and such solutions are still a matter of intense concern.

Overall, nuclear energy is expected to constitute a major slice of the energy pie in the future and engineers will find opportunities in building new plants (especially internationally), improving existing plants, and coming up with solutions for nuclear waste disposal.