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Nature 449, 664 (11 October 2007) | doi:10.1038/449664a; Published online 10 October 2007

Open Innovation Challenges

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Fifty years of hopes and fears

Walt Patterson1

  1. Walt Patterson is associate fellow at Chatham House, London SW1Y 4LE, UK and author of Nuclear Power (Penguin), available free at http://www.waltpatterson.org. His new book is Keeping The Lights On: Towards Sustainable Electricity.

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Atomic energy was cutting edge when the Windscale fire showed the world the effects of a nuclear accident. Fifty years on, we have more innovative ways to generate electricity.

On the edge of the Lake District, scenic heart of northwestern England, lies a vast, ugly industrial scar. Part is Calder Hall.