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Prospects for U.S. Nuclear Power After Fukushima

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Prospects for U.S. Nuclear Power After Fukushima
Prospects for U.S. Nuclear Power After Fukushima

The meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant on March 11th 2011 has directly aroused the controversy on nuclear power worldwide. Germany's coalition government finally announced a reversal of policy that would see all the country's nuclear power plants phased out by 2022. Due to the safety concern on nuclear power, a great multitude of economists in the United States believe that the economic market of nuclear power will be severely restrained in the future. On the other hand, nuclear power, as a significant emission-free resource inside the US, provides approximately 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity energy generation. An important question that can be asked is: whether economics of nuclear power will be affected by the recent nuclear accident and the public anxiety that rebounded from it. A research paper, entitled “Prospects for U.S. Nuclear Power After Fukushima” by Lucas W. Davis in 2011, attempts to break down the question and provide detailed analysis on this issue with collected data and professional knowledge. In particular, Davis’s research focuses on the costs during nuclear power generation and its competitive advantages in long run. On a broader spectrum, the writer considers both benefits and risks nuclear power brings to human life, and finally comes to a conclusion.

As Lucas W. Davis suggests, the continuously increasing enthusiasm for nuclear power has been shifted down by the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. In addition, voices for establishing restrictive regulations and increasing security systems are becoming louder and louder. Actually, controversy on nuclear power can be tracked back to the 1950s, when scientists pointed out that “nuclear accidents, proliferation risk, and the storage of spent fuel” are inevitable problems of nuclear power. Until today, these potential risks still exist and threaten people’s daily life. Therefore, more than a few economists doubt

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