During the last century, most of America's electricity came from coal. But today coal plays a smaller role, replaced by cleaner natural gas. Over the last several decades, the other major source of our power has been nuclear, coming in at about 20%.
Nuclear power has no carbon emissions and, unlike wind and solar, doesn't vary its production according to the weather. But new nuclear plants take years to build, with costs running into billions of dollars. And about half our nuclear plants are over 40 years old.
Since so many plants are aging, with only one new one going live since 1996, there's concern that this vital segment of our energy production is in decline.
So . . what if we could build a nuclear power plant that was cheaper, smaller, safer?
"Dozens of nuclear startups are popping up around the country, aiming to solve the well-known problems with nuclear power . . "
Cont'd tomorrow - one of those new innovations
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