With governments around the world recognizing the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear energylooks like being an increasingly major player in the energy mix of the coming decades. But, for many people, what nuclear energy technology is today and what it will be tomorrow is something only vaguely understood. So how do nuclear reactors work, and can the atom become "our friend" again?

On December 2, 1942, underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg Field football stadium, Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) was activated, becoming the world's first nuclear reactor. Today, 78 years later, 440 reactors generate over 10 percent of the world's energy, with another 50 reactors currently under construction.

Alongside this significant role, nuclear energy has developed a poor reputation. This is due to a number of complicated factors. Nuclear energy is still a mysterious thing to many people, it's associated with radioactive waste and nuclear weapons, and is still under the burden of decades of Cold War propaganda, as well as three extremely high-profile reactor accidents in the USA, USSR, and Japan.