Diversity/Brussels

How does nuclear energy fit in with all the other viable options and technologies posed for our current, and future, energy needs? Solar, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal - with all these options, it might be hard for some to understand how truly we need nuclear energy.

This key improvement to solar cell technology came forth less than a month ago! Using cadmium telluride, the one volt barrier has been broken after nearly 60 years of investigation, and the price of solar should now be fairly competitive with fossil fuels.

Bill Gates is huge proponent of nuclear energy and is co-founder of a company called TerrraPower. This company expects to deploy the world's first commercial liquid metal fast reactor, a Travelling Wave Reactor named TP-1:

Our ability to store energy also matters. This cool discovery by a team from the University of Maryland makes the future of this matter seem very, very bright. I imagine a next-generation cell composed of plant material which surpasses the energy storage capability of our most sophisticated systems to date.

My opinions align with those of many: it's important to keep a diverse portfolio of energy generation sectors in order to maintain an elaborate and redundant grid- network, which is both profitable and efficient. All scientific discoveries will not lie in just one area of energy needs. Some will be made concerning fossil fuels, petroleum, and natural gas, while others will be made regarding nuclear fuels.

On a side note, it's apparent that the horrific events today in Belgium got the world's attention. My good friend who I grew up with and pursues graduate studies at the University of Alabama has an internship scheduled to be in Brussels this summer. I called him immediately when I found out and let him know about the three detonations. He grew silent for a moment and realized the seriousness of terrorism, and how nobody really understands it until it's either too late, or at the doorstep. Luckily, the internship director sent out an e-mail sending her prayers and explaining that program details would likely cause relocation to either Germany or Ireland. There is no metric for the sorrow sown today by evil men. Facebook is even helping people make sure that their loved ones are okay by introducing unique prompting from both online and popular application interfaces.
Currently, Obama is talking in Havana, Cuba. CNN reports that two nuclear power plants in eastern Belgium have been evacuated except for essential staff.