2007-08-14 09:27:22 · 20 answers · asked by undercover elephant 4 in Environment ➔ Green Living
An interesting question. But, you have a point. First, we all know the issues. Second, it's the only alternative form of energy today than can replace fossil fuels to meet the world's energy demand. At some point in time, we'll have to make a very tough decision.
2007-08-14 16:17:03 · answer #1 · answered by jdkilp 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
as opposed to coal and the likes that we mainly power things with now, nuclear power would be a big step up and could fairly cleanly power the world for a long long time before we would run out even at the projected future rates of power consumption. Obviously the disposal of it is a problem and nuclear reactors have malfunctioned in the past which are major problems that can leave an area uninhabitable.
Why don't we switch? Expense... you say it's cheap but the US oil reserve contains trillions of barrels of gas in there reserve if we switched off of gas those barrels would become nearly worthless.
Simple math really say you've got 1 trillion gallons of a substance you sell at 3 dollars a gallon now, that will double in value every 3-6 years. As opposed to 1 trillion gallons of a substance that will halve in value every 3-6 years there's a huge difference in the amount of money you make off of it.
Also long term you're going to want to find a truly renewable form of energy.... my bet's on the sun which is nuclear power that will last us about another 5 billion years.
2007-08-14 09:43:10 · answer #2 · answered by icpooreman 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The biggest "hazard" with nuclear power is the time it takes for a "used core" to become non-radioactive. 5000 years is the often used number. No one is sure that future generations want a gift that will remain toxic for 5K years.
There is also a current hazard, like the Russians had, that releases radioactive material to the atmosphere during a catastrophic accident. However, this could most likely be 99.99999% eliminated if the world community would agree on a standard nuclear power plant.
2007-08-14 09:35:33 · answer #3 · answered by jack w 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Nuclear energy is in use in the US forces and its not slowing down.... Why? Because you Americans think you are more careful than other so its ok for you to benefit from this form of energy. Nuclear energy is definately the future form of energy. Oil continue to rise up. And im sure soon we will have enough technology to handle nuclear waste. Other than the fear of an accident, the rest are advantages......
2007-08-14 23:28:34 · answer #4 · answered by Peter M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The positives are that it is relatively cheap to produce, doesn't produce smoke or CO2 (doesn't contribute to greenhouse effect), produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, and small amounts of waste.
However, there can be and are tragic accidents with nuclear power. Financial outlay high on safety. Also, it produces highly radioactive dangerous waste which is buried and takes years and years for the radioactivity to die away. It is not renewable either (once uranium supplies run out, that is it) - except that fast breeder reactors can be used to convert it to other nuclear fuels whilst using the energy from the uranium. And these fuels can be used for nuclear weapons. Who wants those?
See this for a comparison of the various types of energy sources:
http://www.nucleartourist.com/basics/why.htm
2007-08-14 09:34:03 · answer #5 · answered by pickles 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I cannot agree that it does not emit dangerous gases. Have you heard of Chernobyl and Windscale in 1957? TMI?
There was a very dangerous accident in 1958 at a US air base in the UK when a B 57 bomber carrying 2 H bombs came offf the runway and crashed into a nuclear weapons store. We were just so close to having large parts of East Anglia closed to humanity for 3/4 of a million years, is that good? We have to store the detritus for at least 1 million years, what of future generations who do not know it is there and that history has forgotten about it?
We have just discovered a crashed B36 Peacemaker bomber in the Canadian fastness that has been there for 40 years with a nuclear payload, the bomb is missing, who has that then? This stuff will mutate and deform our children's children's children's bodies into something not human and you want it just to charge your iPod? Get real.
2007-08-14 09:46:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Fear of the uneducated people.
Knowing about nuclear power (the reality) would reduce the fear.. but there have been too many propaganda movies (The China Syndrome for example) spreading too much disinformation.
Also the mistakes of the Russians such as Chernobyl... Its not bright to use a flammable metal as your reactor coolant.
2007-08-14 10:17:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
It's clean until the day you need to get rid of the waste, the waste alone makes enough damage.
Then, everybody has present Chernobyl, which is still not 100% resolved.
2007-08-14 09:38:17 · answer #8 · answered by Don't worry... be happy 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Because if the janitor trips over the cord, there goes Los Angeles (or insert your city here). Whoops.
2007-08-14 14:41:19 · answer #9 · answered by Slacker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not clean - and the only reason I can think of it being acceptable to a government over renewable energy (ie wind, solar etc.) is that it looks like a legitimate way to stockpile the materials for nuclear weapons, hence the reason that its okay for 'us' and not okay for 'them' to have nuclear power
2007-08-14 09:39:19 · answer #10 · answered by Em 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋