Alongside renewables, nuclear power is often promoted as a viable energy option for major expansion in the future. However, it faces significant problems. Taking a critical approach towards the ongoing viability of nuclear energy solutions, this research and reference text contextualises the vices and virtues of fusion and fission against the rapidly expanding area of renewables and the challenge of climate change, in order to assess the future viability of nuclear power.

Starting from the early history of nuclear innovation, before moving to the present, in which economic problems facing the current generation of water-cooled nuclear plants has led to the revival of older ideas, David Elliott explores the efficacy of nuclear solutions including liquid sodium cooled fast reactors, molten fluoride salt reactors, high temperature helium cooled reactors, and small modular reactors.

This thoroughly updated second edition contains extensive new content on the prospects of nuclear power and progress made in the 2020s. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in areas of nuclear power and nuclear energy, as well as for general readers interested in the nuclear debate.

Key Features:

• Provides an authoritative and critical overview of the progress and prospects of nuclear power

• Sets the nuclear debate in its full historical context

• Considers nuclear fission and fusion

• Shows how innovation may not always prosper

• Lays out the key choice ahead: nuclear or not nuclear

David Elliott BSc, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Technology Policy at the Open University. Prof. Elliott has written extensively on sustainable energy policy, including several books and a blog for Physics World. He is the editor of the long-established journal Renew, and the IOP Book Series in Renewable and Sustainable Power.