专家:核能的重要性

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You are listening to Paul Wilson, nuclear scientist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Wilson is one scientist who believes that nuclear power is a proven means to supply the growing demand for clean energy.

Paul Wilson: I think that the public opinion of nuclear energy has been increasing for the last decade.And one of the major reasons for that is concern about global climate change, and the recognition that nuclear energy has a big role to play in medicating and reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we emit.

Paul Wilson: I think we need to have nuclear energy as a big option in our energy future because it has no direct emissions of greenhouse gases.

Wilson said that what nuclear plants do emit - spent nuclear fuel - is compact and contained.

Paul Wilson: Spent nuclear fuel stays where you put it. You can put it somewhere, and you can watch it, and you can keep it safe with relatively little effort.

We asked Wilson about the concern that more nuclear energy would mean more nuclear weapons.

Paul Wilson: Most commercial nuclear power systems are very hard to turn into military nuclear power systems. And so, there's a lot of different techniques we can use to avoid that.

He said those techniques include both advanced technology and political diplomacy.