Nuclear's comeback greater demand, more plants, new hope

Today, 440 nuclear plants generate 16% of the world's energy needs. New nuclear plant construction programs have begun, in East Asian nations, Russia, and India. The United States may also be on the verge of resuming construction of new nuclear plants, a process that has been dormant for more than 25 years. Last year, Constellation Energy announced that it would apply to the NRC for permission to construct and operate a pressurized water reactor similar to that being built in Finland. Framatome ANP - a joint venture of the French company Areva and the German company Siemens - is building that reactor, which was designed by Areva. Are we therefore at the renaissance of nuclear energy in the United States? That is the question that motivates this issue of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine.