Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy to generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power plant.

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, and named after the planet Uranus. After its discovery, Uranium went through different phases such as radioactivity, harnessing nuclear fission, conceiving the atomic bomb, use of the nuclear boilers and then the commercial use of nuclear in the early 1960’s with the USA opening up the first commercial nuclear plant.

Nuclear power plants currently operate in 31/195 countries in the world. This is less than half the number of countries in the world!

Nuclear sources have 50 to 100 time’s lower greenhouse gas emissions than coal, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. According to a CNN report by Elizabeth Landau and statement of Mark Jacobson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, analyses showing nuclear energy's environmental friendliness don't take into account the emissions from the mining and transport of nuclear fuel.

In his view, a combination of renewable sources such as wind and tidal power should be the standard, and investment in nuclear power, or using a combination of nuclear and other sources, is merely funneling resources to something with potential dangers.

But with renewable energy, it's hard to generate continuous power, known as the baseload demand, said the University of Southern California's Meshkati.

Nuclear power plants deliver large amounts of power for long periods of time. Solar and wind energy technologies, on the other hand, rely on natural phenomena that aren't available all the time the sun, which doesn't shine in the same place all day, and the wind, which doesn't blow around the clock. For that reason they are "intermittent." But Jacobson and colleagues have shown that, by putting different renewables together, it's possible to fill in the gaps and get steady power.

However, much as it’s good, I also think that countries should totally get rid of nuclear weapons and focus on it as a source of energy. This is mainly due to the threat these can cause to the global peace. Countries should also put into consideration the factors of energy diversity and security.

I will conclude by posting a very interesting speech from the president of Uganda at the United Nations Security Council on the Maintenance of International peace and security, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and nuclear energy. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNoWYh7AiI8)

References;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/outline-history-of-nuclear-energy.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/26/nuclear.energy/index.html