Time was when the nuclear energy sector appeared to be dying. An old fashioned 1950’s-style industry with 1950’s-style pollution problems. Then came the growing concern about global warming. The nuclear power industry does not emit CO2, while fossil fuel electricity plants pour thus greenhouse gas into the sky. As a result, many governments and international organisations now view nuclear power far more favourably than they did before. An expansion is underway. And nuclear power will be with us for decades to come. International News Services presents here an introductory e-book assessing the health of this energy sector for managers, executives and researchers who want an accurate and basic briefing.

INTRODUCTION – NUCLEAR ENERGY ANSWERS ITS CRITICS

IN the early 1990s the nuclear power industry faced a bleak outlook.

High profile accidents such as in Chernobyl and Three Mile Island in, Pennsylvania, the USA, had raised public concern about the safety of the industry to all time high. With green renewable energy technologies then under development, it was wind, solar, tidal, hydro and biomass energy systems that seemed to have the energy industry future wrapped up. Until
they did, oil, gas and dirty old coal, would hold the line. At least burning these fossil fuels did not create dangerous radioactive waste that needed to be stored in concrete containers for decades. And at least if there was an accident at a fossil fuel power station, radio active particles were not strewn across so many continents, causing health problems for years to come.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction: Nuclear Energy Answers Its Critics
2. Nuclear Power Generation has Experienced a Roller Coaster Ride of Development and Doubt
3. ISO Offers Nuclear Sector Global Standards to Spread Best Practice
4. Nuclear Engineering Higher Education Struggling to Keep Up with Renewed Demand for its Causes and Expertise
5. ITER Starts Work in Earnest: Millions of Euros Available for its Nuclear Fusion Research