For decades, there has been an intense debate over the best approach to managing spent fuel from nuclear power reactors, whether it is better to dispose of it directly in geologic repositories, or reprocess it to recover and recycle the plutonium and uranium, disposing only of the wastes from reprocessing and recycling.

U.S. consumption of natural gas increased by 18 percent between 1990 and 2002 and is expected to grow for at least the next two decades, in large part because of substantial additions of gas-fired electric generating capacity. However, the conditions that spurred much of this expansion – an apparent abundance of natural gas and relatively low prices – now appear to be changing quickly.

This presentation was given at the 1864th Stated Meeting, held at the House of the Academy on November 13, 2002.

Electric-industry restructuring has derailed. The massive blackout of August 14, 2003 certainly was not needed to underscore the point, but it adds urgency to the effort to find solutions.

From the July 29, 2003 MIT press release: A distinguished team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard released today what co-chair Dr. John Deutch calls "the most comprehensive, interdisciplinary study ever conducted on the future of nuclear energy." The report maintains that "The nuclear option should be retained precisely because it is an important carbon-free source of power."

As the U.S. and Russian Co-Chairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences / U.S. National Academies Joint Committee on U.S.-Russian Cooperation on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, we are pleased to submit, on our own responsibility, this letter report conveying our account of the Joint Committee's deliberations in the first phase of its work.

The Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP) seeks to combat global warming and climate change by promoting strategies for efficient energy technologies in China, India, and the United States, such as advanced coal technologies, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and advanced vehicle technologies.