Welcome back to the final week of blogging! As you may know, this week’s blog is going to dive into the pros and cons of nuclear energy. So let’s just jump right into it!
By far, the biggest pro of nuclear energy is that it produces zero carbon waste. This means it produces no carbon dioxide which is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. I won’t get super deep into it here, but the way that carbon dioxide warms the earth, is through the greenhouse effect. Another positive aspect of nuclear power is its reliability and ability to run around the clock. Some other alternative power sources, like wind and solar, cannot run very well during the night. Another thing great about nuclear power is that nuclear power plants can be put practically anywhere while not taking up much space.
Nuclear power plants are very small in comparison to the amount of energy they produce. The energy that nuclear power plants produce comes from a very small amount of fuel. One pellet of uranium provides as much energy as a ton of coal. Not only does the fuel take up less space than other energy sources, but so does the power plant. The footprint of a nuclear power plant is much smaller than other alternative sources like wind, solar, hydroelectric etc.
Nuclear power is also able to provide base load power (minimum level of electricity needed to meet demands) while not needing large additions to the power grid. Wind, solar, and other energy sources would require large scale and expensive changes to the power grid. Finally, nuclear power plants have a long operating life. They can run for many many years to come, giving us clean energy for generations to come.
Now onto the cons. The main thing that makes people concerned about nuclear power is the risk of an accident such as Chernobyl. However, these accidents are few and far between. Previously, all of these accidents were avoidable. Chernobyl was caused by an unregulated and uncontrolled experiments and Fukushima was caused by a natural disaster. With today’s safety precautions and technology, these accidents should never happen again.
Another aspect of nuclear power that scares many people is nuclear waste. Nuclear waste is unavoidable, however it can be dealt with easily and is very safe when disposed of properly. There are even ways to recycle nuclear waste through means of enrichment. The largest practical downside to nuclear power is the cost. It is very pricey to open a power plant but I believe that it is worth it. It is an investment for humanity’s future and the protection of our environments. There are even companies out there looking for ways to convert coal power plants into nuclear power plants.
I hope this post taught you about the benefits and downsides of nuclear power. Personally, I believe that nuclear power is the future and it will only improve from here on out. That does it for the blogs so I hope you enjoyed them. Thanks for reading!
I didn’t know much about nuclear power (other than that it has zero carbon waste) until I read this post. While there are a lot pros to it (which I believe outweigh the cons), it’s still going to be a challenge to get people onboard with nuclear power due to events like Chernobyl and Fukushima. I agree with you in that given our technological advances, the chances of a nuclear meltdown should be low. However, it’s difficult to change people’s minds when nulcear power is associated with events so traumatic and large-scale like Chernobyl.
I like this post! I think the biggest drawback with nuclear power is the waste and the waste disposal issues since there is not a good way to do it. I think safety around nuclear will need to improve even more before it is accepted by the general public.