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Case 2 Nuclear Energy Making a proceeds? In the 2010 State of the Union address, the president called for to a greater extent clean-energy jobs, with expansion of thermonuclear power as an pick energy source. He stated, To create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. opposite countries, such as Great Britain, are already planning to build new nuclear plants.Although no(prenominal) have been built in the United States for many long time, the 104 currently operating plants generate almost 20 percent of Americas electricity. Wind and solar energy together generate less than 5 percent. An alloy of enriched uranium powers nuclear reactors. How large is the worlds supply of uranium? How long leave alone it choke? Uranium, a metal, is relatively common and can be found in rocks and even saltwater as well as in ore deposits in the earth. With 24 percent, Australia has the largest supply overall, but Kazakhstan recently declared that it had surpassed Australias prohibitedput.Canada has less than 10 percent of the worlds supply, but has the highest concentration of top-quality ore. Worldwide, about(predicate) 67,00 tons of uranium are used each year. At current necessity, that supply is expected to last about 70 years. The World Nuclear Association (WNA) predicts that nuclear reactor capacity pull up stakes development by about 27 percent in the next decade and that the demand for uranium leave alone grow by 33 percent in response. There is some debate about when the demand for uranium depart be greater than the supply that can be mined economically.Antinuclear activists point out that mineral resources are nonrenewable. Just as the world will eventually run out of anoint and coal, it will similarly run out of uranium. Some analysts believe that this will happen sooner kinda than later. Environmentalists ob ject to destructive mining techniques. In Australia, activists are concerned with the land rights of indigenous Australians. Another strength roadblock is that uranium mining in general is impeded by a lack of base of operations and a shortage of experienced workers, factors that drive up processing costs.And, a still-unsolved and crucial problem is how to write out safe, long-term storage of worn-out(a) nuclear rods, which continue to emit radioactivity. The World Nuclear Association disagrees with these assessments. First, not all uranium deposits have been discovered. Since 1975, the number of known deposits has tripled. Advances in geological research and more exploration will detect many more. As mining techniques improve, known deposits that are currently unreachable will become economically accessible.The WNA predicts that at current rates of usage, known supplies will last 200 years rather than 70 or 80. Second, ore deposits are not the only sources of uranium. It is als o found in nuclear weapons, available because of various disarmament treaties. The end of the Cold War in the late 1980s also meant the end of the nuclear arms race. Nuclear warheads contain high-quality enriched uranium. Utility companies and governments also have stockpiles of the metal. Third, research is on-going to make enrichment facilities and reactors more energy efficient.Fourth, unlike oil or coal, uranium can be recycled from spent nuclear fuel rods and from tailings (uranium left over from the enrichment process). These techniques should also improve over time. Other sources, such as phosphates and seawater, could become economically viable in the future. Questions for Critical Thinking 1. What factors do you think will modify the supply and demand curve for nuclear energy? 2. Describe what type of competition you predict will arise in the nuclear energy industry.