With Tuesday's Senate approval of major air pollution controls, nuclear power is seen by some as the major power source of the future.

The bill imposes sweeping controls on industrial plants, automobiles and coal-burning electric power plants. However, reduction of hazardous chemical releases required by the bill would not unduly restrict nuclear power operations.

"Nuclear power makes an interesting comparison to the Clean Air Bill," said Steve Unglesbee, a spokesman for the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness. "Nuclear power already cuts its sulfur dioxide emissions by 5 million tons, which is half the way there because the bill requires a 10 million ton reduction."

Today, nuclear power is the country's second major source of energy after coal.

"Looking into the future depends on what scenario you look at," said University professor of nuclear engineering Anthony Baratta. "(By) around 1993 to 1995 it's estimated that electricity capacity will drop."

In the United States, 20 percent more electricity is produced than needed to serve electrical needs when plants are closed or need maintenance, he said. This excess capacity is predicted to drop in a few years.

Also within the next few years, the country will experience record levels of oil consumption and higher prices will follow, forcing the country to switch to natural gas soon after, Baratta said. When natural gas prices become too high there will probably be interest in nuclear power again, he said.

A nuclear power plant operates on fission or the splitting of the uranium atom.

In the reactor core, the uranium fuel is housed in long hollow zirconium fuel rods. A uranium atom is hit by a neutron and splits apart, releasing energy. Along with this energy release, some neutrons escape from the nucleus of the atom, hitting other uranium atoms and releasing more energy in a chain reaction. To stop the process, boron-filled control rods are inserted into the reactor's core because of their ability to absorb neutrons and stop the reaction.

Pennsylvania has seen many firsts in the history of commercial nuclear power. In 1957, the first commercial reactor started operation in Shippingport, supplying electricity to the Pittsburgh area. In 1979, the worst accident in commercial reactor history occurred at Three Mile Island, caused by a loss of coolant from the reactor core due to human error and system malfunction.

At the University's Energy and Technology Projects, project associate David Ryan said, "There have been no new orders for nuclear plants; the major problem is that people remember TMI."

Because TMI accident safeguards for nuclear power plants are much higher than those of other power sources, many new state-of-the-art systems are being developed, Ryan said.

Ryan stressed the United States should not rely exclusively on nuclear power.

"A combination of different resources must be developed to deal with energy problems," he said. "The development of these resources should start here."

Nuclear power plants now account for 20 percent of the country's electrical power, Baratta said. Nuclear power in Pennsylvania costs less than coal, he said.

According to the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, the average total electrical generating costs in the United States include 2.21 cents per kilowatt hour for nuclear power, 2.0 for coal and 3.18 for oil. A total of 112 nuclear power are plants operating in the United States today, 21 of these in the Northeast alone.

"Before the end of the decade we will probably have a new nuclear power plant," Baratta said. "The environmental protests that are taking place are helping to shift the attitude toward nuclear power."

Concurring with Baratta, Unglesbee cited a recent report that indicated acceptance of nuclear power.

In a survey done by Cambridge Reports Inc., it was found that 69 percent of adults who worked for or donated to environmental groups felt that nuclear power will be important in the future.

France made a conscious decision to use nuclear power during the 1973 oil embargo and now derives 70 percent of its electricity from the source, Unglesbee said. The country enjoys "environmental success," having nearly eliminated carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions.

However, although nuclear power may help energy needs and satisfy some of the provisions of the Clean Air Bill it does not redeem it in the eyes of campus environmental group Eco-Action.

"The problems with nuclear power lie in the waste that's produced," said Eco-Action Treasurer Al Gordon (junior-general arts and sciences). "They don't know what to do with it."

Gordon said although commercial nuclear power plants do not pollute as much as coal-burning electric power plants, it is not more acceptable because of the waste it produces.

"It's like treating a heroin addict with cocaine," he said.

The United States should concentrate on its renewable resources and increase conservation efforts to satisfy energy needs, Gordon said.

"The current attitude is 'take the energy now and leave the waste for our children,' " he said. "We wouldn't be against nuclear power for a second if it was clean and the waste wouldn't be left for our children."

Unglesbee said only 17 thousand tons of spent fuel have resulted from nuclear power in its 30 years of use. This compares to the 300 million tons chemical wastes that are disposed of each year.

"Technological problems concerning waste are not a problem," he said. "It's now a political question."