Sharon

Nuclear energy is an excellent way to generate electricity and is the lowest-cost producer of base load electricity. However, the disadvantages such as waste, cost, and the possibility of accidents that makes it a controversial source of energy.


 * Cost**

Cost is one of the major disadvantages of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants are expensive to construct in comparison to fossil fuel plants.. They require more expensive materials and take much longer to construct. An important but mostly hidden cost is the large government subsidy received by the nuclear industry for nuclear research, enrichment of fuels and limited insurance liability. As a result, the cost of electricity from nuclear power is greater than fossil fuels. Since its beginning, nuclear power has cost this country over $492,000,000,000 -- nearly twice the cost of the Viet Nam War and the Apollo Moon Missions combined. In return for this investment, we have an energy source that, until the mid-1980's, gave us less energy in this country than did the burning of firewood! In the U.S., nuclear power contributes only 20-22% of our electricity, and only 8-10% of our total energy consumption. In Illinois these percentages are much greater due to Commonwealth Edison's over-reliance on nuclear power. (1).


 * Waste**

One of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the waste. Although the output of waste is relatively small, it releases harmful radiation as it decays. There is no method to get rid of the radioactivity of the waste or speed up the rate of decay. The waste must be sealed and buried in a safe location to prevent contamination of the environment and other people. In 2002, Congress approved Yucca Mountain, Nev., a remote desert location, as the site for a centralized deep geologic repository for used nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste but it will take approximately 10,000 of years until this area will be safe again. Waste must be transported from power plants to the site of final disposal, raising the issue of transportation safety.


 * Accidents**

One of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the occurrence of accidents due to core meltdown. These accidents happen when the core overheats and radiation products are allowed to escape the building. This contaminates the surrounding area with radioactive material that is very harmful people's health, often causing cancer. Serious accidents such as those at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, as well as less damaging accidents indicate that nuclear power cannot be made safe enough to be a commercial energy source. In testimony before Congress on April 17, 1985, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission testified that the crude probability of a severe nuclear accident in this country over the next 20 years involving large releases of radioactive materials was roughly 45% (nearly 50-50)! (1)


 * Weapons**

One of the most feared disadvantages of nuclear energy is the potential for weapons. Each year, every nuclear reactor is capable of making enough plutonium to build over thirty nuclear bombs. Atomic weapons are created through the splitting of the atom and detonated through the process of fission, while hydrogen bombs are detonated through the process of fusion. Hydrogen bombs are 1000 times more explosive than atomic bombs, thus nations with hydrogen bomb technology can destroy nations within minutes. This thought has led to intense debate over the issue of nuclear energy as an alternative source for energy.

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[|http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/nuclear.htm]