Worried about the environment...it is one of the greenest sources of energy, worried about safety...Nuclear power plants are among the safest plants in any industry worldwide.....worried about emitted radiation...coal plants emit many many times more radioactive substances into the atmosphere than a nuclear plant. The only REAL problem the industry faces is waste disposal. Rome wasn't built in a day...research is being done to find a solution to this problem.
There is a stigma attached to anything with the word "NUCLEAR". You know the imaging technique MRI.....It was originally NMRI with the N being for nuclear but the word nuclear was removed because it scares people. If there is a dust bin fire at a nuclear power plant it makes headline news. There is no real factual argument against nuclear energy that isn't against fossil fuel plants.
Nuclear power emits at the most 66g CO2e/kWh and that takes into account plant construction, mining & milling and decommission. The next highest is natural gas at 443 and coal at 900+. Wind and solar less of course between 5-33. And low doses of radiation are harmless , look at Ramsar in Iran with radiation over 100 times higher than the Chernobyl exclusion zone and people live healthier longer lives. Look at airline crews who have 20 times normal radiation. Or Finland, Norway, Sweden, India etc
Another perspective is that the amount of waste produced by nuclear power is 2 pounds for each person (fits into a coke can) compared to 68 tonnes of coal put into the atmosphere per person. Coal fired plants expose the population to around 200 times more radioactive by-products than nuclear power plants do in their entire lifecycle
Annual waste from one reactor will fit into a pickup truck and the fuel from 50 years of reactor operation will fit in a football field amounting to 77,000 tons. We discard 179,000 tons of batteries a year & they contain toxic heavy metals. When solar panels expire after the average 25 years they must be disposed of in toxic dumps as they contain highly toxic metals, gases & solvents that are carcinogenic. Some of these toxic substances in solar panels will never decay, never ending life span.
@BeondaPale The only nuclear accident where any of the public was harmed was Chernobyl. And that reactor had no containment vessel and was run so poorly that the chances of recreating such an event is practically nil.
"It's not news when someone gets burned by fossil fuels."
- True, Rod but when there is a major spill that can effect the ecosystem in a large way eg: Exxon Valdez, BP in the gulf, the ongoing spill in Nigeria. it DOES get reported somehow.
Nuclear accidents can effect the the ecosystem for a very long time and even local human genetic heritage
Rod Sayzzz "The accidents you can name on a hand... with an extra finger" 1. Lucens reactor, Switzerland 2. Three Mile Island 3. Chernobyl 4. NRX (military), Canada 5. BORAX-I (experimental), Idaho 6. EBR-I (military), Idaho 7. Windscale (military), England 8. Simi Valley 9. Fermi 1, Michigan 10. A1 plant, Czechoslovakia 11. Saint-Laurent Nuclear Plant, France Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing, multi fingered - Rod Adams
Worried about the environment...it is one of the greenest sources of energy, worried about safety...Nuclear power plants are among the safest plants in any industry worldwide.....worried about emitted radiation...coal plants emit many many times more radioactive substances into the atmosphere than a nuclear plant. The only REAL problem the industry faces is waste disposal. Rome wasn't built in a day...research is being done to find a solution to this problem.
Onefoot08 1 month ago
There is a stigma attached to anything with the word "NUCLEAR". You know the imaging technique MRI.....It was originally NMRI with the N being for nuclear but the word nuclear was removed because it scares people. If there is a dust bin fire at a nuclear power plant it makes headline news. There is no real factual argument against nuclear energy that isn't against fossil fuel plants.
Onefoot08 1 month ago
Nuclear power emits at the most 66g CO2e/kWh and that takes into account plant construction, mining & milling and decommission. The next highest is natural gas at 443 and coal at 900+. Wind and solar less of course between 5-33. And low doses of radiation are harmless , look at Ramsar in Iran with radiation over 100 times higher than the Chernobyl exclusion zone and people live healthier longer lives. Look at airline crews who have 20 times normal radiation. Or Finland, Norway, Sweden, India etc
d2099y 3 months ago
Another perspective is that the amount of waste produced by nuclear power is 2 pounds for each person (fits into a coke can) compared to 68 tonnes of coal put into the atmosphere per person. Coal fired plants expose the population to around 200 times more radioactive by-products than nuclear power plants do in their entire lifecycle
d2099y 3 months ago
Annual waste from one reactor will fit into a pickup truck and the fuel from 50 years of reactor operation will fit in a football field amounting to 77,000 tons. We discard 179,000 tons of batteries a year & they contain toxic heavy metals. When solar panels expire after the average 25 years they must be disposed of in toxic dumps as they contain highly toxic metals, gases & solvents that are carcinogenic. Some of these toxic substances in solar panels will never decay, never ending life span.
d2099y 3 months ago
@BeondaPale The only nuclear accident where any of the public was harmed was Chernobyl. And that reactor had no containment vessel and was run so poorly that the chances of recreating such an event is practically nil.
RaySquirrel 4 months ago
"It's not news when someone gets burned by fossil fuels."
- True, Rod but when there is a major spill that can effect the ecosystem in a large way eg: Exxon Valdez, BP in the gulf, the ongoing spill in Nigeria. it DOES get reported somehow.
Nuclear accidents can effect the the ecosystem for a very long time and even local human genetic heritage
BeondaPale 6 months ago
BeondaPale 6 months ago