Nuclear energy and sustainable development

Abstract

The dependency on combustion of coal, oil and gas for energy cannot be indefinite. Thus, the process of replacing fossil fuels with many energy technologies cannot be avoided in order to combat this high dependency. Nevertheless, we argue that in the long term, nuclear fission technology is the answer to the ever increasing demand for energy. This entails that nuclear fission has to play a major role in suppling energy in this age and beyond. In achieving this, the major aspect is in switching electrical energy generation from fossil fuels to nuclear fission. This cannot be achieved in a short period of time but in few decades citing France as an example.1 This energy transformation campaign is capable of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide as well as other greenhouse gases at a large scale. In view of this, replacement of coal-fired with gas-fired generating stations will not significantly reduce greenhouse gases emissions. What about the other energy sources such as wind and solar? These may not be an ultimate answer as they will be hard pressed in supply and may fall short in energy supply at very high scale. This is because they depend on backup power or energy storage hence not able to meet the ever growing high demand of energy. Therefore, this paper focuses on the current status of nuclear energy. It also discusses the future prospects of nuclear energy and the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).