By Robert Rosner, Alex Hearn, January 2, 2017
Using nuclear power to replace coal-based fossil fuel power plants worldwide by 2100 is within current international technical capabilities. Whether this can actually be accomplished is however a more complicated matter: The possible obstacles involve negative public perception and fears; dealing with the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, that is, the ultimate disposal of the used nuclear fuel; and the matter of security, which becomes a potentially far more serious issue as nuclear power plants proliferate. Thus – surely to no thoughtful person’s surprise – whether we can realistically replace fossil fuels as a source for electrical generation with nuclear power is a political, and not a technical, issue.
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