If global warming is such a big problem, why aren't we switching to nuclear energy nation-wide?

Question

Vrael - We have many nuclear power plants all over the country which is shut down because of the democrats. We already have the resources and money.

Answer 1

most people don't want a nuclear power plant in there back year.

although i do think we should use more nuclear power its far from the perfect clean abundant power souse some make it out to be. the yellow cake still needs to be mined which uses many environmentally damaging solvents and shipped which still uses oil. the nuculer waste still needs to be stored for thousands of years

Answer 2

Blaming it on the Democrats is a far too simplistic view on your part. There have been multiple reasons nuclear power hasn't become as large in the US as once expected.

The first thing you should recognize is that France (very socialistic and extremely pro-environmental country) gets about 80% of their power from nuclear.  France, unlike the US, reacted appropriately to the energy crisis of the mid-70's.  They made concerted efforts to get off their reliance of foreign oil for their energy needs.  Sadly, the US let their dependence increase (doing almost nothing throughout Republican or Democratic rule for decades).

Answer 3

Because it costs a lot of money and resources to continue with that plan. With Iraq costing the US so much time and money, I don't think our Global warming is in our countries main interests.

Answer 4

Global warming is a big fat bag of bullchit.. it is real don't get me wrong , but it is also cause alot by our government of the great USA for projects they have been testing and building since 96 and before ... few examples are "Haarp"

Answer 5

The only solution the pro - AGW folks will accept is diminished economic output. Nuclear power is a very good idea but it wouldn't ft their true agenda.

Answer 6

Global warming is a simple natural cycle and there is too much debate for the government to take real action if we did cause it, but percentages say otherwise.

Answer 7

The global warming is the results of atomic explosions  and the penetration of rockets through the outer layers of the world , nuclear energy is the cause of global warming,it was kept secret from the general public,

Answer 8

Clean energy is not the goal of the environmental liberals, it's pushing man back to an era before we had electric power.

There are literally thousands of gvmt programs that are funneling billions of dollars to corporations under the guise of clean energy.

Nuclear power would make these corporate welfare programs unnecessary.

Let's never forget how safe and clean nuclear power is.  The waste from a nuclear power plant for one year can fit under your desk.

Answer 9

Contrary to popular belief, there's not an unlimited supply of ready fuel for global nuclear power. There are some infrastructural problems with access to high grade uranium deposits which will require significant investments in technology and manpower to overcome. The British are about to embark on a major project of building nuclear power stations with the help of the French and this trend is likely to be repeated in other countries. We are actually starting to use old nuclear weapons for power station fuel, a concept known as "megatons to megawatts".

http://www.cfr.org/publication/14705/glo...

Answer 10

Nuclear power is a very dirty and dangerous form of energy. Yes , it doesn't directly add CO2 into the environment, but the waste is going to be around for THOUSANDS of years!  Global warming is real, and building nuclear power plants is not the answer.

Answer 11

ANSWER:

Because a nuclear power plant has a lifetime of 50 years, and a comissioning and construction time of 10 years

Solar energy will be in only 20 years at grid parity (cost efficient compared to coal and natural gas)

This means that IF YOU BUILD NOW A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, DURING MORE THAN HALF OF ITS LIFETIME IT WILL BE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN SOLAR POWER.... think about it.

Answer 12

You obviously don't know or want to know the answer with that kind of statement do you?   They are shut down because they aren't safe and it would cost too much to repair them so they are safe.    I guess you could say that is the Democrats fault for looking out for the safety of the country's citizens over the profit of corporations.    One near where I used to live had cracks in ALL the steam tubes.   Was cheaper to shut the thing down since the government (us taxpayers) would pay for decommissioning than repair the problems.

Answer 13

Emmanuel M has a good point. A lot of heat must have been put into the environment through nuclear weapons testing.

Answer 14

Lets build one next to your house.

Answer 15

Global warming is a big deal but I think that people are scared of the nuclear energy plants because some people say they can blow up. which i dont think is true AT ALL

Answer 16

The same reason we're not switching to renewable energy nationwide.  It costs money.

As Nickel pointed out, it takes a lot of time and money to build a nuclear power plant, and renewables like solar will be cost competetive without the numerous problems associated with nuclear power, such as:

* Byproduct of nuclear waste

* Increased production of enriched uranium which could be used in nuclear weapons if it fell into the wrong hands

* Constant threat (even if small) of a reactor meltdown

The smart thing to do would be to maintain our current  nuclear power plants while building more renewable power stations.  But again, that costs money.

Answer 17

people are scared of another churnoble* , or three mile island incident.

but just the opposite, nuclear energy is safer, "greener", and planly better than anyother energy source out there that uses steam powered generators