Today, nuclear energy meets around 10% of global energy demand, with 439 currently operational nuclear plants in 32 countries and about 55 new reactors under construction. Indeed, most reactors have been built between 19 worldwide. Following the 1970s energy crisis and the dramatic increase of oil prices that resulted from it, more and more countries decided to embark on nuclear power programmes. In the 1950s, early commercial nuclear power stations started operations, offering to many countries around the world an alternative to oil and gas import dependency and a far less polluting energy source than fossil fuels. To produce nuclear fission, reactors make use of uranium as fuel.įor centuries, the industrialisation of economies around the world was made possible by fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and petroleum and only in recent years countries opened up to alternative, renewable sources like solar and wind energy. The steam deriving from boiling or pressurised water is then channelled to spin turbines to generate electricity. The energy released from fission generates heat that brings a cooling agent, usually water, to boil. During the latter, uranium used as fuel causes atoms to split into two or more nuclei. Once extracted, this energy can be used to produce electricity by creating nuclear fission in a reactor through two kinds of atomic reaction: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. Nuclear energy is the energy source found in an atom’s nucleus, or core. In the race to net-zero carbon emissions, should countries still rely on nuclear energy or should they make space for more fossil fuels and renewable energy sources? We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy. The extremely high cost and lengthy process to build nuclear plants are compensated by the fact that producing nuclear energy is not nearly as polluting as oil and coal. While it is a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, this type of power is also associated with some of the world’s most dangerous and deadliest weapons, not to mention nuclear disasters. Since the first nuclear plant started operations in the 1950s, the world has been highly divided on nuclear as a source of energy.
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