At the present people are talking about limiting the permitting of new nuclear power plants. Some people are talking about shutting down existing plants. There is post incident hysteria occurring that will surely delay and possible take nuclear power out of the solution for global warming. It has been very hard to get permitting to build new plants and this incident may make it impossible. Many people were looking to have nuclear power play a large role in decreasing CO2 and slowing global warming. What would the alternatives be?
There will be many people who will cite renewable power as the source that will give us CO2 free power. Solar cells of semiconductor silicon and cadmium telluride are planned to expand. Wind farms are looked at as an excellent source of electrical energy. Corn and vegetation sources generate more CO2 than they consume in the photosynthesis process. They "net out" a large amount of CO2 that is a greenhouse gas and will lead to global warming. Wind farms, with government subsidies, are a good source of electrical power without the CO2 gas emission. The problem is that all of these sources combined do not come close to filling the demand the world and the USA have for electricity.
Nuclear power was thought to be part of the answer for the large amounts of electricity that will be needed. The question might be: can the world build safer nuclear power plants? Many of the operating plants are considered safe but the incident in Japan is raising new questions and perspectives. Answers and confirmation will need to occur.
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