Has nuclear energy a future?

Question

Has nuclear energy a future?

Answer 1

Of course it does, nuclear makes up a significant amount of the U.S's electricity production doday and with rising oil prices its only gonna get better. In addition, there is a project currently being worked on in Europe called the JET (Joint- European- Torus) which instead of utilizing nuclear fission will harness the far more effictiant nuclear fussion- four hydrogen atoms fuse to form a slightly less massive heklium atom- the lost mass is converted 2 energy be E=MC squared.

Answer 2

I hope not our descendants will not thank us for all the nuclear waste and decommissioned power stations they will be lumbered with not to mention the risk of accidents like Chernobyl and three mile island why isn't anyone investigating the possibility of tidal stream power generation?

Answer 3

Ask Chernobyl.

Answer 4

clearly it has a past, present, and future.  It is becoming more popular because it doesn't emit pollutions (except radioactive waste) or green house gases.  Fusion is also extremely promising though not yet proven

Answer 5

I have a feeling it does because of the pressure to reduce

harmful emissions from coventional power stations. However,

I believe it should NOT have a future: The great problem is dealing with nuclear waste. Nobody knows what effects burying nuclear waste under ground or tossing it on to the seabed is going to have on us and the environment. Careless management and operation of nuclear power stations has led to numerous leaks and health problems for those who work and live near to them and wholesale poisoning of fish stocks in the Irish Sea after leaks from Sellafield in Cumbria. The way forward is to use science and technology to further reduce pollution from conventional power stations and to make serious use of wind energy and other alternative energies. In countries with the appropriate climate, the fitting of solar panels to each house should become standard practice.

Answer 6

When you take account of the cost of building the reactors, mining the uranium and storing the waste (including the decommissioned reactor when it is worn out after only 40 years) nuclear energy is far from economic.  These processes are also responsible for significant CO2 emissions.  And uranium is a fossil fuel like the others in that it is not renewable.  Burn it and it is gone.

In the UK the only nuclear energy production has been subsidised production.  There are no private companies building new reactors at the present time because they would need subsidies to justify the investment.

And I have not even mentioned the radiation emitted by reactors nor the risks of catastrophic accidents or terrorism.

Nuclear energy is not the answer to any of our problems and so I hope the present fashion for promoting it will soon pass.

Not in my back yard and not with my taxes.

Answer 7

in my oppinion...

Nuclear energy has NO future.

nuclear energy is a dead end.

Answer 8

In Iran it seems to.

Answer 9

indeed we have future in nuclear energy,

no trains full of coals,  no dams full of deep water,

the nuclear energy is capable to stand for our needs in coming future.

the waste produced is non renewable, but still is very less in amount, only the lead containers are

but if we would sucessfully develop the nuclear Fusion technology (as the work is going on ) the energy problems will be over, as it has no harmful radioactive rays as the waste material and it uses hydrogen in place of uranium or plutonium.

Answer 10

SIMPLE ANSWER:

IT HAS A FUTURE UNTIL..  the renewable electricity generation becomes cheaper than nuclear.

This might happen in the next 20-40 years.

The lifetime of a nuclear plant is around 40 years.

So... not sure.

Answer 11

It's the only realistic answer.

Answer 12

It should.  50% of green house gases produced in the US is from power generation.  Nuclear power can provide all the power we need 24/7/365 without producing any ghg's.

The amount of nuclear waste produced each year can fit under your desk.

Nuclear waste has been transported and stored for decades, you are just unaware this is going on.

The only thing that is stopping us is that small minded people are scared of modern technology.  Nuclear power is nothing more than heating water with a hot rock.

Answer 13

APerhaps. There still are issues surrounding the disposal of the waste disposal and the amount of time the waste is stored until it becomes inert, about 3 million years. And contrary to what Mr. Jello states, the amount of waste produced would more than fit under any desk.