The need to preserve nuclear fuels and materials knowledge

The demand for nuclear power will likely substantially increase in this century. Developing countries are already including new nuclear plants as an important part of their mix of energy generators. The energy shortage in the United States coupled with the recent improvements in the economic competitiveness of nuclear power is causing a re-evaluation of the nuclear power enterprise. Even more important is the growing concern over CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, the curbing of which could increase the price of the coal option still further. Nuclear energy reduces the CO2 burden directly by displacing fossil energy generation of electricity. In the future, the contribution of nuclear energy to the climate change problem may be even greater if nuclear energy is used for hydrogen generation in the transportation sector. (authors)