AS: Science for Public Understanding: Should we go back to Nuclear Power?

... Should we go back to Nuclear Power? Nuclear power had been the best source of cheap energy. But this was undermined at the in the late 1990s by several major reactor accidents. Coupled with competition from more-efficient electricity sources, the problems of radioactive waste disposal and unavoidable links to nuclear weapons proliferation. Nonetheless, the apparent certainty of global warming has led the argument that nuclear power is the only viable option left for generating large amounts of energy without emitting greenhouse gases. Could the only way to go forward now be by going back? The Kyoto Protocol was opened for the 11th December 1997 giving targets for reducing carbon emissions for the signitary nations. This required the 40 most industrialized countries (As listed in Annex 1 of UNFCCC1) to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by upto 15%. This has become the first major step into reducing man made greenhouse gas

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