I read an article recently that addressed the question, “Is nuclear power going to make a comeback in the 21st century, and if so, will it make any real impact on global warming?” Of course these questions bring forth many other questions but I couldn’t help but take away my own answer of “not likely.” The CNN article made the relevant point of why nuclear power is back on the agenda- because climate change demands we do something. Nuclear power is practically carbon neutral (at least when compared to standard fossil fuels), and no scientist would argue that it isn’t a far cleaner source of power. With the publicity and media attention global warming has been getting, I expect alternate energy sources will only continue to get more attention over the next few decades.

In a nutshell, here’s our current process. Today’s nuclear power plants are fission reactors. This means they rely on splitting heavy atoms (like uranium) to produce gamma radiation, which in turn produces heat which is converted to steam and power, etc., etc. While this process is indeed mostly carbon neutral, it does require a lot of water. So much so that France had to turn down their power production in 2003 because of a drought. Also, another byproduct is that heated water is often returned to its source and thus can negatively impact that ecologic system as well.

An alternative being looked at today is fusion power plants. This is basically the opposite of splitting atoms, and involves using very high temperatures to fuse atoms. This process would produce more energy than fission reactors would and also give off far less waste. The major hurdle for this right now is the expense and time it would require to make commercial fusion plants viable. Scientists predict that at best, there won’t be any fusion-powered electricity until about 2045.

Like many who are looking forward to a greener future, I welcome anything that moves us toward making this a reality. After reading the article I found myself asking what I could do as an individual to help. The short answer is probably not enough. What I decided to do is write these brief thoughts in the chance that someone else might stumble upon them and ask themselves the same question. One other thing I’m vowing to do is to start teaching my children about the importance of renewable energy and anything else I can to stress upon them the importance of thinking about tomorrow’s problems today. There are lots of cool science toys and kits today that focus on teaching children with environmental science kits using green science and energy principles. This year I’m going to try to focus some of my son’s extracurricular learning on this. After all, it will be his generation that has to bear the brunt of these problems we’re just starting to understand.