Title: Nuclear power – engine for world economic recovery and development

Authors: Jonathan Tennenbaum

Addresses: Essenerstr. 14, 10555 Berlin, Germany

Abstract: The benefits of nuclear energy as an economic |growth engine| derive from the impacts of nuclear sector activity on the overall functioning of a nation|s economy. To adequately assess these impacts, it is necessary to go beyond conventional monetary-based measures of growth, focusing attention on the |real economy| in terms of successive physical investment cycles. The principles of |real economy| are examined in depth, with emphasis on the significance of power density as a correlate of overall productivity, on the economic function of basic infrastructure and the crucial role of scientific and technological revolutions. The indirect economic benefits of high-technology investment programs are examined, with the US Apollo project as an exemplary case. In the context of a coming |Second Electrification| of the world economy, large-scale investment into advanced forms of nuclear energy constitutes a uniquely effective means to secure global development and prosperity for the coming decades. The success of such a policy depends, however, on generating a sense of participation of the general population in the work of the nuclear sector.

Keywords: nuclear sector; real economy; physical economy; power density; electrification; Generation IV; accelerated beta-decay; nuclear energy; nuclear power; economic growth.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNGEE.2010.033310

International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology, 2010 Vol.3 No.2, pp.180 - 215

Published online: 24 May 2010 *

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