How do nuclear power plants affect the environment?

Question

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Answer 1

Nuclear power plants are created heavily for the purpose of containment for any conceivable worse case scenario's.  Thus, you really won't see much of any affects the power plants have on the environment themselves.  However, don't let this confuse you with saying that the entire nuclear program doesn't have any affect on the environment, because to actually mine and mill for the Uranium, this actually does release CO2 and other pollutants in the air.

When put on the broad spectrum, not nearly as much as other types of plants like charcoal or petrol plants.

Answer 2

very little compared to coal and oil plants, which dump millions of tons of sulfur, mercury, CO2, and other pollutants into the atmosphere every year.

Answer 3

They make the water warmer.

That's about it as far as negative effects go, as long as they're run properly and there's no accidents.

Answer 4

Nuclear power plants have surprisingly little effect on the environment.

The reactor makes heat (a lot of it!) which heats up water called Primary Coolant.  The reactor and the primary coolant are sealed inside a containment building to prevent the spread of radioactive particulates in case there's a leak.

Depending on the design, there may be a secondary water system that is not radioactive and is boiled off using the heat from the Primary Coolant, making steam.  This steam pushes on a turbine attached to an electric generator to make power.  Once the steam is done, it is condensed back into water using an external cooling source (usually water from the ocean or lake or river)

The large distinctive towers that you see in a nuclear power plant are the cooling towers where massive amounts of water are boiled off as a heat sink.  There is no radioactive release anywhere in this process, it is all contained inside the sealed containment building.

So, what effects does it have?  Well, there's heat pollution, caused by the release of (non-radioactive) steam in the cooling towers.  There's also the issue of what to do with the spent fuel once it's used up.  Currently the fuel is sealed up in special containers and are buried in remote locations.