Global warming and rising energy needs are rehabilitating the concept of nuclear power. But if it is to figure in the energy equation, it will need to be cheaper, cleaner and safer. It's the night shift at a nuclear power plant in upstate New York, and a technician checks on the temperature of the reactor core. It's a searing 800 °C -- a temperature that today would spark a major panic and could signal the start of a partial reactor meltdown. Yet this reading doesn't raise an eyebrow. It's 2035, andthis state-of-the-art reactor is designed to operate at this temperature, cooled not by the water that keeps today's reactors in check, but by a huge vat of molten lead. And thanks to its high operating temperature, the plant is generating hydrogen fuel as well as electricity.
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