Nuclear power plants provide about 16 percent of the world’s electricity with approximately 440 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries. In France 75% of electricity is nuclear generated. Nuclear power is generated using uranium and is capable of producing energy from small amounts of fuel without causing pollution such as in the process of burning fossil fuels. The reactor uses uranium rods as fuel, and the heat is generated by nuclear fission. Neutrons smash into the nucleus of the uranium atoms, which split roughly in half and release energy in the form of heat. Carbon dioxide gas is pumped through the reactor to take the heat away, and the hot gas then heats water to make steam. The steam drives turbines which drive generators. Over the last 20 years no new nuclear power stations have been built except in France, with the trend being to either shut old stations or rehabilitate them. >Increasing the use of nuclear is a necessity to meet the rising global demand for energy (forecasted to double in the next 50 years) but is not a sufficient solution. Indeed, doubling world energy (+13TW) would require 13,000 new nuclear reactors which would mean a new reactor almost every day for the next 50 years! It takes 10 years to build a nuclear reactor. Only 60 new reactors will be completed in the next 10 years