Despite over twenty years of little focus on nuclear, changes in both the world’s needs and the nuclear industry have once again made nuclear power a sought after resource. The main reasons for these changes are the other sources of energy’s multitudes of shortcomings. The main problems with other sources are the cost, the environmental impact, and availability. Natural gas resources are becoming limited and increasingly expensive, while coal is a major pollutant - largely responsible for sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions.
The final major upside to nuclear power is the total lack of pollution. While coal is a major pollutant, and leads to acid rain and increases greenhouse gases, producing nuclear energy releases absolutely no pollutants.
Nuclear power has only been around for forty years, but it has already established itself as a major resource with the potential to overtake coal as the primary resource for electricity. Nuclear power has not always been as successful. First discovered in1951, there was immediate growth within the industry for twenty years - hundred of plants were developed throughout the United States. However, this growth soon halted due to a general lack of success - reasons including a lack of a uniform design, expenses due to permits and regulations, and large amount of opposition from those concerned about the risks. One of the biggest obstacles to the nuclear power industry was the spotlight on the incidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, both of which scared many Americans away from nuclear energy.
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