Nuclear Power Past, Present amp; Future：核电的过去，现在和未来.ppt

Global Nuclear Power: Past, Present Future Dr John Walls Introduction At present there are over 440 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries. In total, they provide about 15% of the world’s electricity. With 55 nuclear reactors currently under construction and many more ordered we frequently hear talk of a ‘‘Nuclear Renaissance’’. Enthusiasm for new nuclear build at present is concentrated in Asia and Russia with relatively weaker enthusiasm in Europe and USA. A Brief History of Nuclear Power The first nuclear reactors were all designed to produce plutonium for their respective nuclear weapons programmes. ‘‘The development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes and the development of atomic energy for bombs are in much of their course interchangeable and interdependent’’. (Acheson–Lilienthal Report 1946) A Brief History II In the post war era, as Britain still had to import relatively expensive oil, policy makers thought that nuclear energy could be a cheap alternative. The shift from military to peaceful uses of nuclear power gained traction in 1953 when President Eisenhower proposed his ‘‘Atoms for Peace’’ programme, suggested nuclear materials be used to provide ‘‘abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world’’. This was beneficial to governments who were keen to develop their nuclear weapons programme away from the glare of public scrutiny. A Brief History III The optimism and almost euphoria about the possible manifold peaceful uses of the atom captured the imagination of writers and scientists, with claims we would see: ‘‘nuclear powered planes, ships, trains . . . nuclear energy would genetically modify crops and preserve grains and fish’’. (Scurlock 2007) The cold war enabled nuclear power to be constructed as vital for national security, research into potential safety problems and risks were discouraged. Expansion of Nuclear Power The large scale use of nuclear power during the 1950s and 1960s was concentrated in