The increasing energy demand can be met for at least the next 50 years using present reactor technology.
The dominant reactor type today, and probably for the next 20 years, is the light-water reactor (boiling or pressurized water reactor) which operates at temperatures up to about 300 "C. High temperature reactors with cooling medium (helium) temperature up to nearly 1000 "C are already on the threshold of large scale development. They have the advantage that they not only supply electricity but also process heat at higher temperatures (cf Sections 2.1.1 and 2.2.2). Breeder reactors will probably become commercially available in greater numbers as generating plants near the end of the 1990s at the earliest, since several technological problems still confront their development.