Nuclear Power Plant Advantages and Disadvantages
What Are Advantage and Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Plant
Advantages of A Nuclear Power Plant
1. Breeder reactors create more usable fuel than they use.
2.A nuclear aircraft carrier can circle the globe continuously for 30 years on its original fuel while a diesel fueled carrier has a range of only about 3000 miles before having to refuel.
3.Current nuclear waste in the US is over 90% Uranium. If reprocessing were made legal again in the US we would have enough nuclear material to last hundreds of years.
4.They can be sited almost anywhere unlike oil which is mostly imported.
5.Almost 0 emissions (very low greenhouse gas emissions.
6.A single nuclear reactor can produce a substantial amount of power. A nuclear reactor produces much more power per unit weight of nuclear fuel than conventional energy sources like coal and oil. The production of nuclear power does not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence does not contribute to global warming.
7.Nuclear power plants don't take up much space. This allows them to be placed in already developed areas and the power does not have to be transferred over long distances.
8.Nuclear power plants already exist and are available worldwide. So in comparison to, for example, nuclear fusion, the technology does not have to be developed first.
9.Another advantage of nuclear power is that nuclear energy is by far the most concentrated form of energy, so it can be produced in large quantities over short periods of time.
10.Nuclear power generation does emit relatively low amounts of CO2. Nowadays global warming because of the greenhouse gases is a hot topic. The contribution of nuclear power to global warming is relatively little.
Disadvantages of A Nuclear Power Plant
1.Mishaps at nuclear plants can render hundreds of square miles of land uninhabitable and unsuitable for any use for years, decades or longer, and kill off entire river systems
2.Early nuclear research and experimentation has created massive contamination problems that are still uncontained. Recently, for instance, underground contamination emanating from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State in the U.S. was discovered and threatens to contaminate the Columbia River
3.Nuclear plants are more expensive to build and maintain.
4.Nuclear reactors are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The construction cost of a nuclear reactor is high. It takes a significantly long time to construct nuclear plants. At present, the reserves of uranium, a critical nuclear fuel, are limited in the world. Nuclear plant workers may be exposed to high levels of radiation, which can cause cancer and other ailments.
5.Nuclear reactors only last for about forty to fifty years, so where they are extremely productive, they break down and are costly to replace.
6.It is a high risk power supply. Of course a nuclear power plant has a very high security standard, but it is impossible to build a plant with a 100% security. We all know what horrible consequences there will be if an error or accident occurs in this plant.
7.A nuclear meltdown can often occur which will release massive amounts of radiation into the community.
8.nuclear energy can create more problems than they solve. Nuclear mishaps do not happen very often, but when they do, it creates a catastrophe that can damage the country and surrounding area for years to come.
9.The technology used for generating nuclear power can also be used for producing nuclear weapons. The country of North Korea is a classic example of this. The technology still does not exist to use nuclear power in relatively smaller devices like automobiles.
10.These plants also consume large amounts of water, which can damage marine life and affect the wildlife population in the area.
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Energy & the Environment
Advantages Nuclear fuel does not make harmful greenhouse gases. You only need a very small amount of nuclear fuel to make a lot of energy Disdvantages The waste that is produced when using nuclear fuel is radioactive and very harmful. It needs to be disposed of carefully Nuclear power stations are at risk from terrorist attack and sabotage. World uranium supplies may run out in about 50 years.
