[en] Full text: World demand for energy is growing at a rate of 2.3% per year and will increase by 43% by 2025. Nuclear energy can address this demand if it is deployed in the near-term. Currently, the United States is the world's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power with 103 commercial nuclear plants producing electricity in the United States. The U.S. National Energy Policy (NEP) released in May 2001 supports further development of nuclear energy by developing advanced nuclear fuel cycles and next generation technologies and advanced reprocessing and fuel treatment technologies. At the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, several programs have been initiated to implement the recommendations of the NEP. The U.S. led Generation IV International Forum (GIF) is an eleven-member group interested in jointly defining the future of nuclear energy research and development. A Generation IV Technology Roadmap was prepared by the GIF member countries that identified the six most promising reactor system and fuel cycle concepts and the R and D necessary to advance these concepts for potential commercialization by 2030. These concepts included a gas-cooled fast reactor, lead alloy liquid metal-cooled reactor, molten salt reactor, sodium liquid metal-cooled reactor, supercritical water-cooled reactor and very high temperature gas reactor. The concepts offer advantages in the areas of economics, safety and reliability, sustainability, and nuclear nonproliferation. Furthermore, the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative was initiated to reduce the volume of spent nuclear fuel and thereby reduce the cost of geologic disposal, reclaim spent fuel's valuable energy and reduce inventories of civilian U.S. plutonium, and reduce radiotoxicity of spent fuel. By initiating these programs, the U.S. hopes to further nuclear energy as a viable energy source today and in the future. (author)