Some topical atomic power questions

When will atomic power start to play its part in earnest; that is, when will a significant fraction of new power plants be based on nuclear systems? This is in my opinion the key question today. It is still early to try to give a definitive answer, but recent developments in the nuclear power field now make it still more urgent to give this question thorough consideration. In order to do so it is necessary to make a survey of the need for power as it exists now and as it is likely to develop in the future; one must also find out what possibilities exist to meet this demand from known energy reserves or such reserves as can be expected to be available in the future. Such a survey made on a global basis will give a balanced picture, but the conclusions obtained in such a way cannot, of course, be applied to individual and local situations. If it were to be proved that our reserves will be insufficient, nuclear power would clearly seem to have an important role in meeting the need, but it is at the same time of the utmost importance to find out if energy reserves hidden in the world's resources of uranium and of thorium are adequate or if technological development can make them so