Pros And Cons Of Being Nuclear

There are many pros and cons to having nuclear power plants in a certain vicinity. Many of the pros talk about low pollution, low operating cost, reliability, high energy density, and more. Many of the cons talk about environmental impact, radioactive waste disposal, high cost, nuclear accidents, and more. In an area where the nuclear power plant is old, they should close it down and make the site environmentally safe for the next 100 years instead of making some major repairs. If the nuclear power plant where to stay open, it would take a lot of time, would cost a lot to make the repair it, and there would still be many cons. There are also some benefits and environmental consequences if the power plant remained open. But if the nuclear power …show more content…
They think this because there are many cons and consequences to having nuclear power plants in a vicinity. One of the major cons that people think about are the environmental impact and nuclear accidents. One issue is environmental impact relating to uranium (radioactive metal used as a fuel in nuclear reactors). Uranium is a source of fuel and exists in few countries. It produces a lot of waste and can result in serious health effects if it is not handled properly. Transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants is a big pollution hazard, and once the fuel is used, it is radioactive and dangerous and can cause a nuclear accident. Radioactive waste is a big part of nuclear accidents because the waste that is produced can cause serious health effect on the lives of people as well as the environment. Most of the waste transmits radiation and high temperature and can cause damage to living things. When radioactive materials are released into the environment, it forms into radioactive gases and particles. When the particle are inhaled or ingested by people, animals, or deposited on the ground, they give off excess energy, called radiation, and that is not good for the environment. One example of nuclear accidents/radioactive waste is the Chernobyl accident that occured on April 26, 1986. This was one of the worst nuclear accident in history and …show more content…
There are many pros like there are cons. One pro is that there is low pollution. Greenhouse gases have decreased by almost half because of the nuclear power because nuclear power has a lot fewer greenhouse emissions and nuclear power plants don’t emit any greenhouse gases unlike coal and natural gas. Another pro is that there is low operating costs and if is reliable. Nuclear power produces inexpensive electricity, has the cheapest operating cost, and the normal life of nuclear reactor is from 40-60 years depending how often it is used. Right now there is enough uranium for another 70-80 years, and nuclear power plant has no constraints and can run without disruption in any climate condition unlike solar and wind energy. Those are some of the pros on having nuclear power plants and why some people think that we should keep the power plant and make some major repairs to keep