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Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power has received a pretty bad rap as an ecological friendly form of energy.  Even with this bad reputation it has been successfully used for about fifty years now.  The fears surrounding this power source has  slowed it's growth and limited the amount of money spent on research.  Here we look at some of these fears and see if they are justified, or should we be increasing our use of this source of power.

Some supporters of nuclear say our greenhouse gas problem is much worse than it needs to be and that we should be concentrating more resources on this form of energy.

Nuclear Power

Over the years of using nuclear power we have experienced two major reactor problems.  In that respect you could say it has probably been a very successful program.  There was a problem at a Russian built plant that could have been averted with better building standards.  They proved to the world that nuclear energy is not the place to go cheap, and the world understood.  A massive release of radioactive elements was the result of reactor problems in Chernobyl.  This has happened just once and at a poorly built facility.  An interesting side note about this plant malfunction is that the surrounding area is now a haven for wildlife, not a radioactive wasteland.

Meltdowns have been a fear for years now, an unjustified one.  Liquids keep the temperature at the core of the reactor at the proper temperature.  If this method of cooling should ever fail, other safeguards are in place to safely shut the system down.  It has been said that reactors can explode like an atomic bomb.  This is just not the case.  The physics involved do not allow this, but since they are so hard for most of us to understand, the assumption is it could happen.

Another misunderstanding about nuclear power plants has to do with the communities surrounding the plants.  The people living in the same town as our local nuclear plant do not glow in the dark, even after twenty or more years.  A nuclear power plant releases less radioactivity into the air than you would find at a coal mine site.  Waste heat was questioned also but has not been a problem.  Waste heat is no where near as environmentally damaging as the byproducts of other energy sources.

In years past concerns were voiced about the transport of radioactive materials.  There has never been a problem nor should there be in the future.  Containment vessels are pretty high tech and are capable of withstanding accidents.  It is also feared this material could fall into the hands of terrorists.  This has not happened either and with the safeguards surrounding the entire operation it is doubtful it ever will.

Nuclear Reactor

Disposal of radioactive waste has been a major concern since the first nuclear power reactor was built.  So far nuclear waste has been contained for fifty years now without a problem.  There has been no record of environmental exposure during the normal running of these reactors.  An interesting aspect of radioactive waste, and storage, is that we, the U.S., have been storing all of our waste for over twenty years now.  We store more waste than any other country.  Sometime during the eighties America concluded that the reprocessing of radioactive waste could lead to developing nuclear weapons, where they did not belong.  We assumed other nations would do the same but that was not the case, nor was it the case where this waste has lead to a build up of nuclear weapons as a result.  One of the technologies that will probably be put back into use in the coming years is that of reprocessing nuclear waste.  England does it and as a result they are storing a very small quantity of the weak remains, left after reprocessing.

An important point to know about nuclear waste is that it reduces it's radioactive properties with time.  This waste is only one thousandth as radioactive in after only ten years.  After five hundred years they are less radioactive than the uranium ore they came from.

It has taken time, but nuclear power has proven itself to be safe.  With the state of energy what it is today, it is very likely we will be seeing more interest in this energy source.

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