What are some risks, benefits, and differing perspectives regarding nuclear technology?

Question

I am working on this paper for Chem and would really appreciate some helpful opinions etc regarding nuclear technolgy.

Answer 1

the good:
-excellent baseline enegry source, unlike solar and wind, will provide a steady and controllable flow of energy.
-can be scaleable(can provide energy by the gigawatt with relatively low land use.
-does not contribute signicantly to atmospheric carbon.(although mining uranium does, as do other links in the fuel cycle).
-excellent energy balance. low energy input to energy output ratio to low enriched uranium.
-can use obsolete nuclear weapons as fuel stock.
-break dependence on foreign energy
sources.

the bad:
-very high initial infrastructure cost.
-availability of sites (not in my backyard factor).
-politically unattractive, viewed as unsafe (chernobyl factor).
-heat pollution: although nuclear power plants do not release carbon into the environment, they do release a great amount of heat

the really bad:
-storage/disposal of highly radioactive and toxic spent fuel.
-proliferation danger, in particular enriched uranium and plutonium.

the really, really, REALLY bad:
-chernobyl factor!
-vulnerability to terrorist attack causing an incident (especially to spent fuel storage facility).

the rewards are great but in my opinion the risk is even greater. it would only take one significant chernobyl size event for the nation to cpmpletely reject nuclear power as a viable energy source. to say nothing of the damage such an event would cause. most reactors now in operation are of the much safer pressurized water variety, but any core can melt down if it overheats or is sabotaged. currently there are hundreds of square miles of uninhabited land in belarus and ukraine resulting from the chernobyl accident, land which will be uninhabitable for centuries!

Answer 2

The advantages are:
A long term source of energy, in some cases
renewable.(Breeder reactors).
The Disadvantages are:
The hazards are long term and extreme.
Radioactive wastes and escaped material
are persistent hazards and remediation is
practically, an impossibility.
(The hazards from an explosion in a steam plant
are basically over when the debris stops falling,
in a fission plant the situation is otherwise.)
This doesn't even address the political problem
of the possible use of the various materials
involved as weapons.

Answer 3

concern is an evolutionary habit conditioned into smart existence. without concern, animals does no longer know the drawing close threat of a predator or different aggressive animal. With too lots concern, animals does no longer have the skill to calm down for a appropriate meal without being spooked by utilising something. So, to respond to your question, concern is an exceptionally organic, environmentally-conditioned reaction to stimuli.