The safety of nuclear power industry is of concern to Bill Gates
Climate change is becoming increasingly evident and it is a matter of concern not only to scientists but also to entrepreneurs. Society is beginning to realize that these problems are absolutely real, not artificial. So, Bill Gates, billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, decided to invest in nuclear power industry safety and he is convinced that a peaceful atom will be an important step in the fight against irreversible climate change.
Speaking with representatives of the US Congress, the billionaire tried to persuade the government to allocate large funds to implement in the 2030s trial development of modern models of reactors for environment protection.
Bill Gates on the protection of nuclear power safety
In 2006 Gates created a separate organization TerraPower and promised to invest $1 billion of his savings and raise an additional $1 billion third-party investment to merge with public funds and sponsoring a pilot project. The billionaire is convinced that nuclear technology can really contribute to the fight against climate change, as it is a unique large source of electricity that does not contain carbon, and capable of working around the clock. Innovations can help solve problems with obsolete reactors – for example, reduce the likelihood of explosions.
Nuclear power attracts not only representatives of the industry itself, but also some well-known figures who are concerned about climate change.
On the other hand, experienced experts in the field of electricity production through nuclear synthesis believe that TerraPower is working with imperfect development, and the company’s developments are likely to would not be cost – effective. Therefore, the idea is expected to be improved for a long time. This, in turn, will result in additional costs. One of the experts, Edwin Lyman, is convinced: TerraPower is one of those visionary enterprises that give people hope to use technology everywhere, even though they are in the stage of early concepts, and will not be able to use to generate environmentally friendly electricity for a long time.
Manufacturers of nuclear power equipment say that in a few years they will be able to bring their achievements to the commercial level around the world. But experts believe that making such loud statements is incorrect, as it deceives ordinary people about the real terms and complexity of such designs.
Bill Gates is a well-known champion of innovation in the fight against climate change. He has already invested large sums in other technologies related to energy conservation and methods of slowing down global warming.
It is difficult to say how effective his efforts will be, but at least his participation in such processes popularizes environmental issues and attracts more ordinary citizens to them.
It should be noted that at the end of 2018 NASA employees noticed in East Antarctica melting of glaciers, although this region long years was considered the most stable and not subject to strong climate changes. As it turned out, this is only for the time to come, and now it is time to think seriously about how the earthlings will protect themselves from environmental degradation.
