Is Nuclear Energy Bad
Nuclear power is not a climate solution.
Is nuclear energy bad. Nuclear power plants are expensive to build prompting wall street to call new nuclear a bet the farm risk. But there are disadvantages. Unlike solar and wind energy nuclear energy is extremely reliable. Every nuclear plant under construction in the united states is well behind schedule and at least 1 billion over budget.
The heat released by fission is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity without the harmful byproducts emitted by fossil fuels. These materials can remain radioactive and dangerous to human health for thousands of years. Nuclear is a zero emission clean energy source. Not long ago i wrote about nuclear plants and the large number of incidents many of which go under the radar that occur.
Nuclear energy s true costs nuclear energy isn t just bad for the environment it s bad for our economy. It generates power through fission which is the process of splitting uranium atoms to produce energy. You can even control how much energy is produced at any given moment which means you can produce exactly what is needed. The resultant steam turns generators to create electricity.
Solar power wind power geothermal power hybrid and electric cars and aggressive energy efficiency are climate solutions that are safer cheaper faster more secure and less wasteful than nuclear power. If the country so chooses it can secretly enrich the uranium to create weapons grade uranium and harvest plutonium from uranium fuel rods for use in nuclear weapons. The reprocessing of nuclear energy is an extremely dirty and hazardous process. Nuclear energy produces radioactive waste a major environmental concern related to nuclear power is the creation of radioactive wastes such as uranium mill tailings spent used reactor fuel and other radioactive wastes.
This by itself makes it one of the most important factors when it comes to selecting it as an energy source. Nuclear power is clean efficient and cheap. The building of a nuclear reactor for energy in a country that does not currently have a reactor allows the country to import uranium for use in the nuclear energy facility. Nuclear power as it is today is a poor substitute for fossil fuels.