Development of Nuclear Technologies

The history of nuclear power development has been one of unfulfilled promises and unexpected technical difficulties. The ringing promise from 1955, of `power too cheap to meter' is one that has come back to haunt the nuclear industry.
With most successful new technologies, people confidently expect that successive designs become cheaper and offer better performance. This has not been the experience with nuclear power: costs have consistently gone up in real terms and processes which were expected to prove easy to master continue to throw up technical difficulties. The issues surrounding waste processing and disposal which at first were assumed to be easily dealt with, remain neglected.
Despite this history of unfulfilled expectations, two factors have meant that nuclear power continues to be discussed as a major potential energy source. First, the promise of unlimited power independent of natural resource limitations and second, the attraction to engineers and scientists of meeting the technological challenges that are posed.
However, in the developed world, patience with nuclear technology is running out. Governments are no longer willing to invest more tax-payers' money in a technology which has provided such a poor rate of return. Electric utilities cannot simply pass on development costs to consumers. Equipment supply companies, which have generally made little or no money from nuclear technology, are unwilling to risk more money on developing technologies which might not work well and which might not have a market.
There is still talk about new nuclear technologies, but a critical look at the real resources going into them shows that little money is now being spent.