ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the sustainability of the types of radiation energy sources. It highlights the supply of incident solar energy that can power the geosphere and biosphere and cater to the needs of a thriving future human civilization. The chapter examines the technological conditions for sustainable geothermal energy (SGE). While discounting weak antinuclear arguments (public perceptions), it shows the absence of technical conditions for sustainable fission nuclear power. The nuclear power industry in fact is facing economic challenges, with renewables reaching lower electricity costs than nuclear power and resistance to protracted nuclear projects that have much hindered the expansion of the industry in Europe and Eurasia, the U. S., and the Asia–Pacific regions. The nuclear power industry is exposed to design, human, and institutional failures. Current technologies tap convective hydrothermal systems (liquids or steam) and conductive geothermal systems (hot rock).
