Scientists have long known the potential of nuclear fast reactors, which turn nuclear waste into energy. However, although the technology was proven in a US government pilot that took place between the 1960s and 1990s, it was never deemed profitable enough to be commercialised, until now.
According to Jess C. Gehin - an associate laboratory director at Idaho National Laboratory, one of the government’s premier energy research labs - current levels of nuclear waste in the US could produce enough energy to power the entire country for 100 years. The technology would not only help alleviate the current energy crisis, but also solve the difficult challenge of managing nuclear waste.
The 2015 Paris Agreement, coupled with the recent rapid rise in energy costs, are driving the development of new and carbon-neutral energy sources. As a result, nuclear fast reactors are once again attracting serious attention.
“It feels like it’s real - or realer - than it...