Global electrification and nuclear power: Toward sustainable growth in thenew millennium

The new millennium will present daunting challenges for the world community : how to sustain prosperity while preserving the global environment in the presence of increasing world population. Science and technology hold the ke ys to resolving this well-publicized "tri-lemma" of balancing economy and e nvironment under the increasing burden of population growth. Technologies have been developing rapidly in recent years and their impact is being felt in every corner of the global community. It is expected that the process will only accelerate and expand in the new millennium. This, to gether with people's aspirations for better life, will put enormous demands on energy production. Thus, energy and environment will remain two poles o f a central global issue in the new century. Electricity's role in mitigati ng environmental degradation is well known and global electrification promi ses the best hope for achieving globally sustainable growth. The question i s then how to produce energy that can generate electricity harmoniously wit h environment. Nuclear power offers the best answer, as it is one of the fe w non-carbon sources that can produce electricity in significant quantity. In examining the big picture of global priorities for the new millennium, t he role of electrification and nuclear power is brought to the fore in the context of globally sustainable growth, and a strategic roadmap for revival of nuclear option is proposed. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.