Overview

Nuclear power is a valuable and controversial source of energy in many nations around the world. Originally heralded as a reliable source of clean, safe power, two accidents raised concerns about the wisdom of continued reliance on nuclear power. However, with a limited store of fossil fuels, concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, drawbacks in alternative power sources, and the limited natural resources of many nations, nuclear power is likely to remain an important source of power for many years.

Background

The first nuclear reactor of which there is a record began operation about two billion years ago in a sandstone bed in what is now Gabon, in the western part of Africa. This natural reactor operated intermittently for tens of millions of years, unheralded and unknown until discovered by French scientists in the 1970s. It is not known if the Oklo reactor (named after the...