Nuclear energy: safety, challenges and opportunities

Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands of times more powerful than the conventional Type-0 fuels, which are basically dead plants and animals existing in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other forms of fossil fuel. Imagine a km. long train, with about 50 freight bogies, fully laden with about 10,000 tonnes of coal. The same energy can be generated by 500 kg of Type-1 fuel, naturally occurring uranium, enough to barely fill the boot of a small car. When technology is fully realised, one can do even better with naturally occurring thorium, in which case the material required would be much less, about 62.5 kg, or even less according to some estimates