June 27th, 1954 the first nuclear power plant came on line.  The 5 megawatt plant, just 100 kilometers from Moscow was the first in the world to feed electricty to a commercial grid.

Sixty-six years later just eleven percent of the worlds power is sourced from nuclear plants.  Fossil fuels and hydro generation are the most common sources of electrical power today although wind and solar are on the rise.

The low level of power production from nuclear sources indicates this method of generation is no longer considered to be as safe, efficient and cost effective as it was originally believed it would be.

Risk

N uclear power plants provide a great illustration of the impact and likelihood technique used for assessing risk.

The likelihood of a nuclear plant failure causing loss of life or property damage is relatively low.  This is due to the safety measures   associated with these plants, both from a proactive monitoring and engineering design perspective.

However, the impact of a risk event could be very significant.  Property damage and repair or replacement costs resulting from an out of control event coupled with the potential loss of life or impacts on quality of life by those exposed to radiation is severe.

These risk event impacts override the low likelihood of occurrence.  Since 1954 there have actually only been a handful of impactful incidents around the world, but the real and potential damages in these cases have become a strong and effective deterrent to nuclear power plants.

As a result the percentage of power produced fro nuclear fission  around the world is relatively small.