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Case 2 Nuclear Energy Making a Comeback? In the 2010 State of the Union address, the president called for to a greater extent clean- push button jobs, with intricacy of atomic power as an alternative energy source. He declargond, To constitute more(prenominal) 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. Other countries, such as Great Britain, be already planning to build new nuclear plants.Although none pee-pee been built in the United States for legion(predicate) years, the 104 currently operating plants stupefy almost 20 percent of Americas electricity. Wind and solar energy together generate less than 5 percent. An alloy of enriched uracil powers nuclear reactors. How large is the worlds supply of uranium? How farseeing depart it last? Uranium, a metal, is relatively common and do-nothing be found in rocks and even seawater as well a s in ore deposits in the earth. With 24 percent, Australia has the largest supply overall, merely Kazakhstan recently declare that it had surpassed Australias output.Canada has less than 10 percent of the worlds supply, but has the highest concentration of top-quality ore. Worldwide, astir(predicate) 67,00 tons of uranium are apply each year. At current demand, that supply is expected to last active 70 years. The World Nuclear connexion (WNA) predicts that nuclear reactor expertness depart increase by about 27 percent in the next decade and that the demand for uranium willing grow by 33 percent in response. There is some debate about when the demand for uranium will be greater than the supply that can be mined economically.Antinuclear activists point out that mineral resources are nonrenewable. right as the world will eventually run out of embrocate and coal, it will also run out of uranium. Some analysts believe that this will happen sooner rather than belatedlyr. Envir onmentalists object to destructive mining techniques. In Australia, activists are concerned with the land rights of indigenous Australians. Another potential barrier is that uranium mining in general is impeded by a lack of infrastructure and a shortage of experienced workers, factors that drive up processing costs.And, a still-unsolved and crucial problem is how to manage safe, long-term terminal of spent 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 correct, 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 al so 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 assure high-quality enriched uranium. Utility companies and governments also have stockpiles of the metal. Third, research is ongoing 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 practicable in the future. Questions for Critical Thinking 1. What factors do you think will move the supply and demand curve for nuclear energy? 2. Describe what typecast of competition you predict will arise in the nuclear energy industry.