candooman

Will Renewable Energy Be Uranium's 'Banana Skin'?

Wave, solar, wind, hydro and geothermal are all good sources of "clean power". However, under the best of conditions, they can only produce about 5% of the total electrical power generated from today's hydrocarbon based and nuclear electric generating plants. Even if the global power consumption is reduced by 20% (to help significantly reduce green house gases and sustain life on earth), there will still be an enormous amount of electrical power needed to run industries, home, and businesses.

Current common nuclear reactors today only uses 4% of the available fuel. The new generation plants will use up to 95% of the uranium fuel which will greatly reduce nuclear waste and last about 300+ years. However, the newer systems of breeder reactors now being developed is the real answer to mankind's global need for clean, reliable electric power. The fuel cannot be made into bombs (answers safety concerns) and can supply power indefinely. These can completely replace all hydrocarbon based electric generating plants. With this source of clean electric power, most cars used for city driving can be plug-in types, meaning they will not use hydrocarbon fuels except when driving long distances. Airplanes and ships will still need hydrocarbon fuels though. The sooner the world convert to nuclear power, the sooner we can eliminate coal/gas/oil burning power plants, the sooner we can limit the damage caused by people's generation CO2 gases....and the sooner global warming can be reversed.