The world is holding its breath, waiting for the latest news from Japan, and hoping that there will be a "happy ending" to what has become a nightmare for the country. Japan is struggling with a triple tragedy: the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident. With Japan recently raising the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident to a level 7 incident, there will be much to learn from these most testing of circumstances.

This is a time of great uncertainty and emotion for nuclear energy, and though the magnitude of the situation has to be acknowledged, we should not jump to conclusions about the future of nuclear power.

Rather, the Fukushima crisis reminds us that the world needs a range of energy sources to sustain global economic development. Energy demand is expected to double by 2050, and we will need to halve our emissions during the same period. Only with a balance of supply can we enhance national well-being, fight poverty, address climate change and meet this target. With Japan suffering the additional trauma of energy shortage, we are reminded that the answer to the crisis is not to simply switch off nuclear power supply.