Stop Using Nuclear Power Plant Now!

Nov. 22, 2012

Stop Using Nuclear Power Plant Now!

Nuclear Power plants are often related to words like "eco-friendly", and "efficient"; nonetheless, it is also crucial to understand the harms that it brings in order to achieve these qualities. Indeed, it is undeniable that a nuclear power plant is the most efficient way to acquire energy nowadays. However, if we stop to consider the waste it causes, the type of fuel it uses, and the tremendous amount of money spent on it, nuclear power plant won't seem valuable anymore. And this is why, in my opinion, we should stop nuclear power plants immediately.

First of all, a nuclear power plant produces nuclear waste. Unlike other kinds of generators, nuclear waste can only decay after 10 000 years [1]. Which mean in this period of time, any accidents in taking care of it could harm the environment; moreover, there are no 100% reliable way to store radioactive material, consequently, making it a risk for future generations.

The second problem of nuclear power plants is the source that it uses-Uranium. If we don't calculate the exact amount that could be dug up, people would only have about seventy years of supply left [2]. Which, coming back to the long term plan of nuclear power plants, it would not sound so optimistic. Furthermore, Uranium is either mined by physically removing uranium ore, or by extracting the uranium in a newer process known as "in situ leaching". Conventional mining has caused dust and radon inhalation for workers - resulting in high rates of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases [3]. In addition to this, serious contamination of groundwater could also be affected through both type of mining, ultimately, harming the environment again. This will cause more problems for people to solve; in other words, more money to spend.

Finally, I would like to say that nuclear energy is not economical at all. As obvious as from the previous discussions, nuclear power plant spends more money and time as to compare with other generators. In India, the country with the most recent experience of nuclear reactor construction, completion costs for the last 10 reactors have, on average, been 300% over budget [4]. And in Finland, the construction of a new reactor is already €1.5 billion over budget," chiefly because it takes, in average, twenty to thirty year from planning to starting the whole system. Furthermore, monitoring nuclear waste also causes a tremendous amount of money [5] since, as mentioned before, it takes ten thousand years to recycle nuclear waste.

Altogether, I would like to suggest that people not use nuclear power plants anymore; unless there's a change one day in the future, when some geniuses come up with a better solution for the disadvantages of nuclear energy. Until then, if you don't want