Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power: Energy of the Future The United States currently produces about 20% of its energy from nuclear power. The Bush administration recently said that nuclear power will be a part of the energy future of the United States. While the nuclear industry’s promise of clean, affordable power is appealing to some, others worry about possible risks. Because of this, acceptance of nuclear power varies widely within the United States, as well as, from one country to another. The nuclear industry claims that there is strong support for nuclear power in communities where plants are already operating, providing both power and jobs, but Nevada residents are firmly opposed to the nuclear industry’s proposed waste depository beneath Yucca Mountain. ... officials have approved the design of three new nuclear reactors. ... The first controlled nuclear reaction took place in 1942, soon followed by the first test of an atomic bomb in New Mexico and the first and only use of them in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 is later passed and an experimental reactor produces the first electric power from the atom. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the first major amendment of the original Energy Act, gives the civilian nuclear energy program further access to nuclear technology and the Atomic Energy Commission announces the beginning of a cooperative program between government and industry to develop nuclear power plants in 1955. ... nuclear power plant is ordered in 1963 as an economical alternative to a fossil-fuel plant. ... utilities order 41 new nuclear power plants in 1973, a one-year record. A major accident occurs at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979, however damage is limited to inside the reactor and no one is injured.