In the 21st-century, world governments are faced with the challenge of drastically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases while simultaneously expanding energyaccess and economic opportunity for billions of people.

In the 1950s “atomic power” seemed to offer an almost unlimited supply of cheap and clean energy. However, a combination of poor plant economics, reliability issues and environmental and safety concerns have damaged nuclear power’s reputation, causing the premature closure of existing power stations, and a reduction in the support for commissioning the next generation of reactors. Since the mid-1980s the world supply of nuclear energy has been in decline, matched almost exactly by the increase in the supply of renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, and tidal)