What are the disadvantages of embracing nuclear energy?

Question

this is for my debate i need help

Answer 1

I am pro-nuclear, but I believe these are real issues -

- Transportation and storage of high level waste

- A terrorist attack against a nuclear facility would be much more devestating than against other forms of power generation (with the exception of hydro-electric)

- Uranium must be mined which can be harmful to the environment

- Nuclear Power Plants are not cheap to build, so there is a fairly high up front cost

- Uranium enrichment produces plutonium that can be used for the production of nuclear weapons (see our current problem with Iran)

If you want to win your debate, you need to understand the Pro's of nuclear energy better than you opponent, so I suggest you research that as well.  Some of these include -

- Nuclear power is cleaner than coal, or natural gas

- Hydroelectric damages the environment by altering the course of rivers and flooding the landscape.

- Wind farms kill birds and are not efficient - They take up much more land per kilowatt than coal, nat gas, oil, or nuclear.

- Solar is very expensive and inefficient.

- Coal - Dirty, releases more radiation into the atmosphere than a nuclear power plant - much more coal must be mined than uranium for the same amount of power

Natural Gas - CO2

There are definate negatives to each form of power generation.  Learn what those are, and learn the pros of nuclear power generation.  If you know more than your opponent and can form a good arguement you will win your debate.

Answer 2

There is only very little disadvantage lying with nuclear energy programme. The disadvantage is waste disposal, because it is radioactive. However, the quality of radioactive waste improves if spent fuel is reused. Moreover, the quantity of radioactive waste generated by nuclear power plant is far less than the waste generated by a coal-fired power plant.

The advantage of nuclear power plant is, it is very much eco-friendly, non-polluted and zero-emission. No greenhouse gas is generated. It is much cleaner and better in respect to environmental degradations.

For further information on advantages of nuclear power plant in comparison to coal-fied power plant and other environmental issues, please refer blog:

http://www.environmentengineering.blogsp...

Answer 3

1. bad people getting nuclear energy which leads to nuclear weapons which may lead to terrorist activities.

Answer 4

There are no significant disadvantages to embracing nuclear energy in the U.S.  Chernobyl doesn't count because it was a flawed design and we don't use that kind of reactor in the U.S.  Meltdowns are not an issue because we had one of those at Three Mile Island in 1979 and nobody got hurt.

Nuclear waste is not an issue because it is easily stored, can be reprocessed, and doesn't take up much room considering how much energy we got out of it.  So what if it is radioactive, that just makes it easier to find.  Lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, and a bunch of other toxic elements are not radioactive, but they are released by other industrial processes in huge amounts without people being irrationally afraid of them.  Radioactivity isn't a boogey man.  It isn't magic and it won't kill you if you live near a plant.  It certainly won't make your kids have extra fingers.

Nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are two completely different issues.  Nuclear weapons cannot be obtained from commercial nuclear reactors.  Can't do it, it can't happen.  The plutonium generated in a commercial nuclear reactor is too high in the wrong isotopes to be used as nuclear weapons material.  So even if you re-process the spent fuel, the plutonium generated from the effort is useless as a weapon.  If it were that easy then North Korea would actually be a threat instead of a wanna be super power.

Pessimistically, the only disadvantage of embracing nuclear energy is that our quality of life will go up which will result in us consuming more and more.

Answer 5

Don't you know we are supposed to be afraid of the terrorists?   They all want to get some nucular waste and kill us all!!!    Run for the hills, after paying your taxes of course.

Answer 6

What do we do with the nuclear waste.  Nobody ever wants it in their backyard.

Accidents such as those at Three Mile Island and the one in the former Soviet Union in the 80's . . . . I personally don't trust that serious accidents won't happen.

Nuclear plants are potential terrorist targets but can also be vulnerable to acts of God.

We do have saver alternatives that mostly require investment.

Answer 7

The disadvantages : Cost of building is pretty high , takes about 8 years with all the red tape involved, Unspent rods can and will be reused in future, creating less waste. Needs water for cooling. some people are afraid after the meltdown in Russia.

Answer 8

Nuclear meltdown...........Chernobyl?  Besides there are much more efficient ways to produce energy (wind, solar, garbage).  I worked at a Lab in the northern suburbs of Chicago that was ran on the methane that was gathered from a near by garbage dump.  We only used 10% of the gas, which is a by product of garbage decay, to power the entire lab.  I think there should be a few nuclear facilities but none near me I don't want my kids to have 4 extra fingers.

Answer 9

1. A nuclear meltdown and 2. Where to store the nuclear Waste.

Wind farms and solar energy are the way to go.

Answer 10

We have nuclear power around here. I wanted solar panels, and my family can afford them, but noo, apparently global warming isn't real.

Anyway, I don't like it because it creates a lot of radioactive waste that is potentially harmful, especially if they have a meltdown.

Answer 11

The absolute biggest disadvantage is the waste. What do you do with something that will stay radioactive for a longer period of time than the entire history of the human race? Cost is also an issue, as well as the fact that uranium is a non-renewable resource. There's also the fear of other countries using reactors to process radioactive material for weapons. The last thing is the fear of the public. Even though nuclear energy is very safe, people will always be afraid. Nuclear energy is not perfect, but I would say it's better than burning coal. Did you know that soot from burning coal releases more radiation into the atmosphere than nuclear power plants?