Pros and cons of nuclear power?

Question

There's a lot of kerfuffle here in Australia about the possibility of using nuclear power. I can see how it might be a good thing, but I can also see how it might go horribly wrong. Tell me some pros and cons to help me decide if I should support it or not.

Answer 1

Nuclear power is the controlled use of nuclear reactions to release energy for work including propulsion, heat, and the generation of electricity. Human use of nuclear power to do significant useful work is currently limited to nuclear fission and radioactive decay. Nuclear energy is produced when a fissile material, such as uranium-235 (235U), is concentrated such that nuclear fission takes place in a controlled chain reaction and creates heat — which is used to boil water, produce steam, and drive a steam turbine. The turbine can be used for mechanical work and also to generate electricity. Nuclear power is used to power most military submarines and aircraft carriers and provides 7% of the world's energy and 15.7% of the world's electricity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#Concerns_about_nuclear_power

Answer 2

Nuclear power is relatively clean and renewable to generate, as opposed to coal or oil fired power plants, plus in this day and age there should be so many safety features that an accidental meltdown shouldn't happen. For cons, it can be a target for the terrorists (which, as a US ally, I'm surprised you haven't been hit already), and you have to dispose of the nuclear waste, which lasts for hundreds of years, though you have huge uninhabitable deserts there, so it shouldn't be too hard.

All in all, nuclear power isn't bad, but nowadays there are so many better alternatives that nuclear shouldn't be considered seriously.

Answer 3

Pros:

- It can produce alot of electrical power with very little greenhouse gasses.

- It is an established industry with many years of good operational experience. There are programs in place to monitor, evaluate, and correct problems with both equipment and the people who operate, maintain and support these machines.

Cons:

- Initially very expensive to build.

- It's a business. Businesses exist to make a profit. One of the goals of upper management is to maximize profit. Workers and regulators must be diligent to ensure increased efficiency does not cross the line to result in a reduction of safety.

You should have a plan in place for what to do with the spent fuel.

Answer 4

Pros:-
1.Little pollution
2.Reliability
3.Safety

Cons:-
1.Meltdowns
2.Radiation
3.Waste disposal


Read up here for more info

http://members.tripod.com/funk_phenomenon/nuclear/procon.htm

Answer 5

good for the power , the bad if it explode............