What Nuclear Power Does

There are arguments both for and against nuclear power plants, so it’s important to look at what nuclear power does, before making a decision.

It is important that we all stop to think about trying to exist for just five minutes in the modern world without the luxury of electricity. We consider it our right to have light at the flick of a switch, to have heat at the flick of a switch, our homes are filled with little holes in the walls from where we can plug in whatever we like and expect it to work – it’s just like magic. But all of that electricity comes at a cost – no, not just your electricity bill – it comes at a cost to the earth. We are quickly using up vital resources which the earth has taken thousands and even millions of years to produce. You don’t need to be a mathematician to work out that the equation simply doesn’t add up.

Nuclear Power Benefits

Let’s not kid ourselves, there are benefits to nuclear power, okay, maybe not many, but they are important benefits just the same.

  • Nuclear power is more efficient at producing energy than fossil fuels
  • Nuclear power does not actually ‘burn’ therefore it produces only minimal amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere (think global warming here)
  • The price of nuclear power does not fluctuate with gas and oil prices

Nuclear Power Problems

For many people, the problems associated with nuclear power simply far outweigh the benefits.

  • Mining and purifying uranium is not a clean process
  • There are contamination problems even with transporting the uranium to the nuclear power plant
  • The waste produced by nuclear power plants is radioactive and difficult to dispose of safely. It will decay to safe levels of radio activity eventually, in a few tens of thousands of years, but who can wait?
  • The very real dangers of a nuclear meltdown (think Chernobyl, Three Mile Island)
  • The great stationery, concrete towers could also make an ideal target for terrorist or military attacks. If you bear in mind the relatively small amount of people living close to Chernobyl, and the millions of Americans who live close to nuclear power plants, just imagine the potential devastation of such an attack. It really doesn’t bear thinking about.