The Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 may have spooked the nuclear power industry as well as the uranium sector, but judging from the global activity wherein Chinese companies combined forces to bid for a UK nuclear power project, Britain poised to switch back to nuclear power after 20 years and the Lithuania parliament approving the construction of a new nuclear plant, nuclear power has regained its former stronghold - alive and kicking and most definitely back on the radar.

This week, energy giants in the U.K., which has been without nuclear power for 20 years, have started to open doors for the construction of a new nuclear plant. EDF said its preferred bidder for the Hinkley Point project would have to be a joint venture between engineering and construction firms Bouygues TP and Laing O'Rourke.

The Horizon nuclear development project, earlier shelved when German energy giants RWE and E.on dropped out, may push through after all with bids already received from the French firm Areva and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. partnership, as well as from the duo of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation of China. A third bidder could be GE Hitachi.

RWE and E.on cancelled and put up project for sale in March as a result of Germany's eventual reversal to no longer use nuclear power in the future. Horizon owns two nuclear sites. It needs a $24-billion investment to build 6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity plants at Oldbury near Bristol and Wylfa on Anglesey.

Whereas for the Chinese firms, bidding and winning the project would enable them to develop their respective international operations, Reuters News reported, citing an unnamed industry official in China.

As for Lithuania, a new nuclear 1,350 MW ABWR reactor capacity power plant is expected to be fully constructed between 2020 to 2022 after its parliament on Thursday approved government plans, to be led by the U.S.-Japanese alliance of Hitachi and GE Nuclear Energy.

The U.K., along with the U.S., France, China, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Vietnam, Poland, and South Korea, were the nations that still believed in the competence and cost-efficiency of nuclear energy, noting the use of nuclear energy is still one of the best options to fight global warming and guarantee energy independence.

Though they were caught off balance by the Fukushima disaster, most believed the tsunami emergency protection system at the Fukushima plant was "underdesigned," Jacopo Buongiorno wrote in the www.technologyreview.com.

"When a nuclear plant loses off-site power, it needs on-site AC and DC power sources to activate safety systems and read instrumentation. At Fukushima, those backup sources were in poorly protected rooms that were overwhelmed by the large waves of water," Mr Buongiorno said.

"Protecting on-site AC and DC power sources in waterproof, fireproof rooms is the simplest way to defend nuclear plants against natural events such as floods, fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes. U.S. plants are already well equipped thanks to measures taken after September 11, 2001."

Mr Buongiorno pointed out that nuclear energy will emerge even safer after Fukushima, just as it has after previous accidents and will continue to produce clean and reliable power for the benefit of humanity.