It's hard to imagine a future where we can decarbonise our power grid affordably without using more nuclear power, Bill Gates told participants in the Nuclear Energy Assembly, held this week as a virtual event by the Nuclear Energy Institute. The text of his keynote speech on 9 June is as follows.
Perspectives 10 June 2021
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OECD experts foresee that accident tolerant fuels (ATF) will dominate the nuclear fuel market within 10 to 20 years. This is a very short timeframe by the standards of the nuclear industry, where reactor research and preparation alone can take up to a decade, writes Natalia Nikipelova, president of Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL. Such an optimistic forecast means that ATF is a product very much anticipated by the market. After all, ensuring nuclear safety - that there will be no serious consequences even in the event of incidents as grave as Fukushima - is a crucial step towards increasing public acceptance of nuclear energy. And, as we all know, where there is demand, supply will follow.
Perspectives 02 June 2021
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Life is a risky business. We are exposed to an unending cascade of risks, with some deemed “worse” than others, writes John Lindberg of World Nuclear Association. Since the 1970s, a considerable amount of psychological research dedicated to understanding why we often ignore some of the statistically biggest risks (e.g. driving, smoking), whilst fearing some of the smallest (e.g. nuclear power), has concluded that factors such as emotions, mental imagery, and trust, are central to the way we assess risks. Few risks elicit as strong a response as radiation, especially when in connection with nuclear power, largely thanks to its invisibility, links with cancer, and media portrayals.
Perspectives 27 May 2021