MIT Energy Initiative
MIT Energy Initiative
The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Summary Report
An Interdisciplinary MIT Study
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Introduction
In 2003 MIT published the interdisciplinary study The Future of Nuclear Power. The underlying motivation was that nuclear energy, which today provides about 70% of the "zero"- carbon electricity in the U.S., is an important option for the market place in a low-carbon world. Since that report, major changes in the US and the world have taken place as described in our 2009 Update of the 2003 Future of Nuclear Power Report. Concerns about climate change have risen: many countries have adopted restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, and the U.S. is expected to adopt similar limits. Projections for nuclear-power growth worldwide have increased dramatically and construction of new plants has accelerated, particularly in China and India. This study on The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle has been carried out because of the continuing importance of nuclear power as a low-carbon option that could be deployed at a scale that is material for mitigating climate change risk, namely, global deployment at the Terawatt scale by mid-century.
STUDY GROUP PARTICIPANTS
- Steve Ansolabehere Professor of Government, Harvard University
- John M. Deutch Institute Professor Department of Chemistry
- Michael J. Driscoll Professor Emeritus Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Michael W. Golay Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Andrew C. Kadak Professor of the Practice Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- John E. Parsons Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management, MIT Executive Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
- Monica Regalbuto Visiting Scientist, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering Department Head, Process Chemistry and Engineering Argonne National Laboratory
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