The advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear energy.?

Question

The advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear energy.?

Answer 1

No, it is not inexpensive. The big problem is the ignorance or the American public and the real interests of our government officials.

Pros: Clean, sustainable energy. Uranium can be mined in our own country = less foreign dependance.

Exhausts steam from a cooling tower vice carcinogens, etc.

Uranium can be burned at whatever rate is required due to electrical loading, this is more efficient than just keeping your hoppers full of coal.

Windpower is clean, but produces far less electricity for the area used (how many windmills do we have space to set up). Solar is clean too, but produces very little power for the area used.

In the end nuclear is the best alternative. We just need enough people to safely operate nuclear reactors. It takes a little more dedication than just 9-5 and drop everything.

Cons: Requires highly trained workers who actually care enough to do their jobs properly. This is becoming a rarity this day in age.

Spent fuel can be recycled to an extent. But, the real issue is where to store it when it has been recycled as much as possible. The combination of public ignorance and tree huggers who don't want the stuff hiding under a mountain is what really makes the storage issue a problem.

F.Y.I. as long as it doesn't enter your water supply and you stay away from it, it is harmless.

I don't believe our government really wants to become self-sufficient. Too many lobbyists and other politicians are getting their pockets lined from the Oil companies. So it is not in their best interest, even though it would be in America's best interest to go full scale nuclear.

The US military is the most capable of operating reactors safely, as they constantly train and drill. Unfortunately, only the Navy is trusted with this responsibility, due to other branches trying with lackluster results or even catastrophies.

Of all the near misses/accidents involving nuclear energy in the U.S. They were all avoidable and were due to operator error/complacancy. Trust me I've read the incident reports on them.

If we could master fusion, this would be the very best. But until then, nuclear fission is the energy source of choice.

Instead of dumping so much money into the Middle East we could invest in some more nuclear power plants.

And if there weren't so many liberal tree huggers in CA, they could support their own energy needs instead of sucking off of their neighboring states' t***s.  

Answer 2

Advantages:  It's very cheap, clean, efficient, and you get a huge amount of energy using a very small amount of fuel.

Disadvantages:  It can be very dangerous, and the nuclear waste has a long period of radioactivity.

I'd like to point out that these disadvantages can be overcome.  Engineers have been working for decades to improve safety of nuclear reactors, and I've heard that the danger relative to the energy gain is much, MUCH less than the dangers of coal mining.  The waste is quite dangerous, true, but there is FAR less than produced by harvesting refining other energy sources, and nuclear waste can actually be recycled to produce more energy (that same energy that makes it dangerous is also usable).  The only problem with this is that weapons-grade plutonium appears at some point during the process, and there is a fear that it could be stolen.

Both of these disadvantages are really political issues.  If we could get the government to get over their fear, and really try to find a way to make it work, nuclear energy could be much more usable than it is now.

And before anyone asks - I would have no problem living next to a nuclear power plant.

Answer 3

Pros - It's good clean energy that doesn't pollute when it's being used.

Cons - Risky, i.e. Nuclear meltdown; Radioactive waste that can never be disposed of after it's used.