Nuclear Fission is an excellent source of electric energy that we have been using for more than half a century. The process has serious problems, but so do coal and hydro and wind and natural gas.
The thing I find most interesting at this moment about nuclear fission is how politics, natural resources, economics, and nuclear accidents have influenced its use in different countries around the world.
Nuclear in the US has remained basically constant since we didn't commission any nuclear plants for decades after the Three Mile Island accident of 1979.
United States of America
The spike in nuclear production in France began in the 1970s. They have limited natural resources and decided to focus on the nuclear option. Today almost 80% of their electricity is generated by nuclear fission.
France
I was surprised when I pulled up Japan's numbers. I had the impression that they used a lot more nuclear power than the graph shows. Notice the precipitous drop in nuclear and the corresponding spike in fossil fuel electricity production around the start of the Fukushima problem in 2011.
Japan
And finally we have the world.
Earthlings
Nuclear requires excellence in science and engineering along with huge capital investments. It's easier and less expensive to generate electricity using anything but nuclear.
I want fusion-powered electricity but it seems that's still a work of science fiction. So far.
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