What are the Pro's and Con's of nuclear power?

Answer 1

The con's are widely known. Possible contamination, increased cancer rates in areas close to nuclear power stations and the problems of disposing of the spent rods.

The pros are cheap electricity for the population and with the readily dwindling stocks of fossel fuels and the impact to the environment when burning these, nuclear power will become an indespensible power source for us all in the near future.

Answer 2

I interpreted the question to be nuclear power generation, not nuclear based military power, right?

Pros -
1. nearly unlimited power, provides sufficient power to convert every gas station in the US to a power station instead.
2. reliable as the sun,
3. Not related in any way, shape or form to Middle East Politics. Makes us independent of the middle east with the flip of the switch.
4. Does not contribute to climate change - no green house gas emissions at all.
5. Unlike wind and solar, it can be put where the people live without taking up huge tracts of land relative to the amount of power it produces. Also independent of the local weather.
6. Ore is produced in the US, and does not require involvement in foreign market or reliance on foreign production sources.

Cons - (and if my wording doesn't indicate so, these are really huge problems)
1. We still don't have a good way to deal with the nuclear waste.
2. Public relations post Chernobyl and post Three Mile Island are almost impossible.
3. Some technical issues like earth-quake safety and design problems are still being debated, though most hold they are safer now than ever.
4. Mining for the ore is severely degrading to the environment

EDIT - I'm with Gene - solar, geothermal and wind have most of the pros and none of the cons...They do not have the capacity to produce as much power as a single nuclear plant, but individuals, properly situated and equipped, can actually control the power that feeds their own personal needs with these three.

Answer 3

While living in WA state (1977) there was a referendum on nuclear power. It cost me $18 a month for electricity on my 3-BR, all-electric home prior to the referendum. Now power costs are about the same as the rest of the country because the public is paying for all those nuclear plants which never went into use and cost billions to build and billions more to demolish.

Add to the economic hassles the fact that you risk ruining the area you live in forever if an accident occurs. Storing nuclear waste is another problem - would you want a nuclear storage dump in your state? The Russians had to learn these lessons the hard way and it appears we have to have a hard lesson too.

There is no upside to nuclear energy once the economic boom of construction is over with. Geothermal energy, solar, and wind look like far better prospects for cheap power.

Answer 4

Pros: It is cheap (once constructed), renewable, cleaner, more efficient, no emissions, stable, and reduces dependency on fossil fuels and foreign oil

Cons: Expensive to start, toxic waste (although cleanup is getting better), NIMBY (although I would rather have a nuclear plant than a coal plant anyday), safety (although this is getting much better too.)

I think overall nuclear power is better. Look at France, if the US were to have as much a percentage of their power come from nuclear as France does, our emissions would be cut by almost 25%. The only major complaint is that people are afraid of reactors blowing. The whole Three Mile Island thing is decades old and we havent really had many reactors built since then. Would you want a brand new state of the art reactor with a multitude of safety measures installed, or a reactor built from the 1970s which is probably falling apart? Go nuke, save green.

Answer 5

Pros: Cheaper and less pollution than coal plants.

Cons: Fission is an unstable reaction and not optimal for power output.
We don't know how to control it well enough to avoid incidents like Chernobyl and 3-Mile Island.
Plus if plants are poorly maintained, they contaminate the area surrounding it's location: Indian Point in NY has been leaking Tritium and Strontium 90 into the Hudson river and the water table for 20 years, and only NOW Entergy has admitted there are large cracks in the containment pool.
The sucker was also built on an active fault line to boot!!!

A cleaner, safer fusion reactor is in the works in Europe right now. But until then... just have to pray there are no incidents or terrorist attacks.

Answer 6

Nuclear power is the only solution.Hydel power has been tapped all over the world.Power generation from coal or crude costly and result in environment pollution.Solar power can be used only for household purposes.Nuclear power is clean and investment is for long term gains.The disadvantage is radiation hazards and it pollutes ground water resources in the long run.Nuclear waste disposal is the major problem.
The challenge before modern science is developing nuclear power generation with minimum or no radiation hazards and turning nuclear waste harmless or hundred percent recycling.

Answer 7

Pro - huge source of energy

Con- Toxic waste, Nuclear meltdown.

Answer 8

There are not pro`s only con`s. - and we will leave a really big mess (radioactive material) behind for generations to come. Me I have no children so at least I do not need to care so much about future generations, but feel that people with families should really think about what there children will do when all the containers they store the radioactive stuff in start to rust..............long after we have gone.
Check out information on Chernobyl.

Answer 9

PROS;

AFTER 50 - 60 YEARS THERE WILL BE NO COAL, ALONG WITH WIND, SOLAR, HYDRO, AGRO-WASTE POWER PLANT, NUCLEAR WILL PROVIDE POWER.



CONS;
Con’s of Nuclear?

Nuclear power cost is Rs 3.00 per Kwh Where as coal cost Rs 1.40 per Kwh

Like petroleum, Foreign currency will go out for
1). TECHNOLOGY,
2). FUEL,
3). INSPECTION,
4). EQUIPMENT, ETC
other CONs are:
5) Dependent on other
6) Possible stoppage of fuel supply on later date (like USA stopped for TARAPUR UNITS, Canadian STOPPED FOR RAWTBHATA UNITS)
7) Radioactive and toxic WASTE Management,
8) Radiation to workers,
9) Radiation to public, in the event of Nuclear accident,
10) Long construction period and high cost of nuclear power plant.





Con of Nuclear?

Cost of coal based power is Rs 1.50 / KWHcompared to Rs 3.00 /KWH for nuclear.

Like petroleum, Foreign currancy will goout for
1). TECHNOLOGY,
2). FUEL,
3). INSPECTION,
4). EQUIPMENT, ETC
5) dependent on other
6) Possible stopage of fuel on later date (like USA stopped for TARAPUR UNITS, canadian STOPPED FOR RAWTBHATA UNITS)

Answer 10

The pros of nuclear power are cheap, clean, abundant fuel source.
The cons that we have to deal with ignorant people who can not determine the difference between nuclear power and nuclear bombs. Also we would have to fight anticapitalists who use the environmental movement for political gain.