What type of reactor technologies will be developed?

WSJ: What Should the U.S. Do With Nuclear Waste?

There are various advantages cited for this type of reactor, including the claim that it can be stopped easily if things get out of hand, and that it produces less long-lived nuclear waste than the uranium-fuelled fission reactors that are currently in common use.

FORBES: Thorium Nuclear Power -- A Lesson From Norway

And the fast-breeder type of nuclear reactor in which plutonium was used as fuel is no longer economic.

ECONOMIST: The nuclear industry

Also on Thursday's China Daily is the news that Bill Gates - co-founder of Microsoft - has confirmed that a company he helped found is co-operating on the development of a new type of nuclear reactor in China.

BBC: China morning round-up: WTO membership marked

Two kinds of nuclear plants are most likely to be affected by the accident those of similar reactor type and those that also are located in coastal areas near earthquake faults.

WSJ: Nuclear Industry Likely to Reassess Safety Systems

Currently, U.S. utilities are seeking permission to build about a dozen of the AP1000 reactors, far more than any other reactor type in the U.S. Nearly a dozen projects that had contemplated using designs developed by competing firms, such as General Electric Co.

WSJ: NRC Approves Toshiba Reactor Design

However, since the UK will most likely adopt a single reactor system for all its new nuclear power plants, there will only be one type of waste stream.

BBC: EDF completes UK nuclear line-up