what are the pros and cons of Nuclear energy?

Answer 1

Pros:
Clean
Efficient
Able to generate large amounts of power

Cons:
Need safe site to dispose of waste

Answer 2

The pro
Nuclear Energy can be a source of clean energy that can supply enough energy to power the world of 1000's of years. Nuclear energy elimenates the need to burn fossil fuels which release tons of pollutants into the air every day.

The con
If used wrongly nuclear energy can damage the environment faster than global warming or any other man made device.

The truth of the matter is that the technology and knowledge exists to use nuclear energy safely. We know how to reprocess the waste so that it can be destroyed in a reactor. The small fraction that can't will decay away in ~100 years. (This is a lot better than 100,000+ years). The decision as to how we use nuclear energy is made by the government, the companies that own the plants, and by the general public.

Answer 3

As long as procedures are followed nuclear power is perfectly safe. Even if a terrorist tried to blow up a nuclear power station there is a fail safe mechanism consisting of boron suspended above the reactor core which would automatically drop and stop the reaction dead (boron absorbs neutrons).

Incidentally, disposing of nuclear waste is pretty simple but people are totally afraid of doing it. Nuclear waste is only dangerous when it is confined with other nuclear waste - a neutron emitted from one atom will cause a reaction in the neighboring atom etc. All you have to do is spread the nuclear waste far and wide (over the ocean is perfect). The ocean water would absorb any radiation emitted. The only risk would be to any marine life that ingested the waste but it would be so dilute it wouldn't matter. You inject radioactive substances everyday - it's in the air we breath and the food we eat. It isn't dangerous unless its concentrated.

Answer 4

Opponents of nuclear power argue that any of the environmental benefits are outweighed by safety compromises and by the costs related to construction and operation of nuclear power plants, including costs for spent-fuel disposal and plant retirement. Proponents of nuclear power respond that nuclear energy is the only power source which explicitly factors the estimated costs for waste containment and plant decommissioning into its overall cost, and that the quoted cost of fossil fuel plants is deceptively low for this reason. The cost of some renewables would be increased too if they included necessary back-up due to their intermittent nature.

Opponents argue that a major disadvantage of the use of nuclear reactors is the threat of a nuclear accident or terrorist attack and the possible resulting exposure to radiation.

Proponents argue that the potential for a meltdown in non-Russian-designed reactors is very small due to the care taken in designing adequate safety systems, and that the nuclear industry has much better statistics regarding humans deaths from occupational accidents than coal or hydropower

Opponents of nuclear power point out that nuclear technology is often dual-use, and much of the same materials and knowledge used in a civilian nuclear program can be used to develop nuclear weapons. This concern is known as nuclear proliferation and is a major reactor design criterion

Opponents of nuclear power express concerns that nuclear waste is not well protected, and that it can be released in the event of terrorist attack, quoting a 1999 Russian incident where workers were caught trying to sell 5 grams of radioactive material on the open market

Answer 5

Pro:
1. Lot of energy from a little fuel.
2. Effcient means of producing electricity

Con:
1. Radioactive waste products
2. Risk of melt-down (Chernobyl)
3. Expensive to build/maintain the plant

Answer 6

Pro's: A very small amount could provide thousands of buildings with large amounts of energy

Con's: Very unsafe!

Resolution: Renewable energy still needs to be though about

Answer 7

Pro--unlimited source of energy to provide electricity and is clean

Con--meltdown is safety procedures are not followed causing radiation sickness,etc.; "safe-keeping" of spent fuel.

Answer 8

This is such a heavy topic, for such small space. I suggest googling it. A few sites I found are below:

Answer 9

raiation can caue serious negative effects