The Role of Nuclear Power in Global Electricity Generation

Abstract Nuclear technology plays an important role in medicine, industry, science, food and agriculture, and power generation. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are structured like other power plants, except that they use energy from nuclear fission to produce electricity. Nuclear energy is a very clean energy if it is well designed, well built, well operated, and well managed. It has no atmospheric emissions or pollution (or close to none), is compact, produces little waste (and this is confined and self-degradable), and avoids increasing the greenhouse effect. Although fewer NPPs are being built now than during the 1970s and 1980s, those operating are producing more electricity. Advocates of nuclear energy for sustainable development argue that it is a well-established noncarbon technology, as demonstrated by its 16% share of the world's electricity supply and even higher share in specific countries, e.g., 78.5% in France.