What are the Prospects for Significant Global Deployment of Nuclear Power?

The construction of new nuclear plants in the U.S. and OECD countries has slowed substantially due to the low cost of natural gas, incentives for deployment of wind and solar, and especially due to the high cost of nuclear power plant construction and safety concerns after Fukushima. The fleet is aging and significant retirements are expected beginning in 2030. While construction of new plants continues in a few countries notably, China, South Korea, and Russia it seems likely that nuclear will experience a decline in its share of world wide electricity generation. 

Nuclear power is an important source of carbon free electricity. The purpose of this talk is to assess the prospect for future nuclear power deployment at significant scale. What are possibly technologies? What are expected development schedules and costs? Who will pay for the development and initial deployment? What should governments do? Are there prospects for international collaboration?

Speaker: John Deutch, emeritus institute perofessor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology