Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy as a potential solution to future energy demands. It explores the environmental impacts of different energy sources and compares nuclear energy to wind and solar power. The article also highlights the challenges and concerns associated with nuclear energy, such as radioactive waste storage and the potential for accidents.

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Introduction
The production of nuclear energy is through the splitting of atoms in the reactor so as to heat
water and produce steam. The steam is later used to turn turbines that generate electricity. A
nuclear power station is considered to be one of the resource-hungry means of electricity
generation. Other than the fuel itself, this particular energy production process uses very rare
metals during its constructions. This basically means that the dream of having all the demands of
energy in the world being met by the nuclear power plant is one of utopia and unattainable
(Otuka et al. 2014). It is important to note that even the supply of just 1TW needs a considerable
amount of resources. Some of the reasons why this may not be the solution to future energy
demands include the following:
Lifetime: All nuclear plants must be decommissioned after 40 to 60 years of their operations.
This is done because of the neutron embrittlement. These are treated as the cracks that normally
occur as a result of the radiation. Taking, for example, a replacement of nuclear stations for
every 50 years on average, with the replacement of 15000 nuclear power stations would mean
building of one station while decommissioning of another one every day(Murray and Holbert
2014). As at now, it takes an average of 8 years to have a constructed nuclear power plant
functional and also an average of at least 20 years to decommission one. This kind of
replacement rate is just unrealistic. The other reason which makes this type of energy not to be
one of the solutions to the future demands of energy is the location requirement. The location of
the power plant must be within an area that has large water body for cooling of machine
components. The average area of 20.5Km2 which is recommended is really hard to come by at
once.

Disadvantages
 The use of nuclear power has been considered very controversial way or method of
electricity production. The environments and other concerned bodies are worried about
the radioactive effects of this kind of energy(Renn and Marshall 2016).
 Many accidents have been reported in relation to the production of electricity at nuclear
power stations. The best example is the accident of Chernobyl in Ukraine which took
place in the year 1986 and claimed over 30 lives. This accident also led to the evacuation
of over 100000 people. The preceding years had seen the evacuation of over 200000
people who were later resettled into other places away from the radioactive area. The
effect of this radiation was even felt thousands of miles away including the UK following
the incident of the Chernobyl accident. It is alleged that over 2500 people died as a result
of this incident.
 Several questions remain unanswered in regard to the storage of radioactive wastes that
are obtained from the nuclear power plants. This is because some of the remains or
wastes of this product remain to be very dangerous to live for a period of more than one
thousand years. They are currently stored in the caves and mines-places that are not yet
safe.
 The process of monitoring and storing a radioactive component for a duration of over one
thousand years is a very expensive undertaking (Zinkle and was 2013).
 The nuclear-powered submarines and ships pose a very big danger to the lives of aquatic
organisms and the entire environment. Poorly maintained old vessels can possibly leak
radiation. The leakage of radiation can also take place if the process of dismantling is not
properly taken care of during the end of their service lives.

 Most of the individuals who are living near the storage depots of the nuclear power plants
are normally worried of their safety against the radio leaks with majority fearing that
staying next to such places can potentially damage their lives.
 Many governments are afraid of the incidences where the unstable countries that develop
nuclear power revert into the creation of nuclear weapons and consequently use them.
Advantages
 The amount of electricity that is produced from nuclear power stations is much more than
the ones that reproduced from fossil fuels.
 In the case of nuclear power plants, there is no combustion of the hydrocarbons as
opposed to fossil fuels. This basically means that the production of pollutant gases is
minimal (Kim, Kim and Kim 2014).
 Supporters of this kind of energy argue that it is environmentally friendly and it is clean.
In the parts of the world where global warming effects are felt, the argument is that the
use of nuclear power is one of the solutions to avert climate change.
 Most of the countries like the UK and USA no longer want to rely on the gas and oil that
is imported from the Middle East an area they consider to be politically unstable(Harrison
et al.2013)..
 Nations like France normally produce over 90% of their electricity from nuclear power
plants. Such countries have actually led the world in the production of energy and its
technology. This has been regarded as proof that nuclear power can be used as an
alternative fuel to fossil fuels

 It is possible to manufacture small nuclear powers to be used in driving ships and other
submarine vessels. If this can be increased beyond the military vessels, the number of oil
using vessels will be reduced and this will help save the water bodies from the pollution.
Other forms of energy available include the following:
Wind
The production of energy from wind is being embraced by most of the countries due to the
following advantages
 It has a low cost for maintenance
 The running costs are also low
 The potential of wind energy is very huge considering that it is renewable.
 Its development has been associated with the creation of job opportunities
Disadvantages
 The supply of wind keeps fluctuating from time to time hence affecting the availability
 The initial installation of the wind turbines is an expensive undertaking.
 Due to the large coverage area, the installation of the wind turbine is a threat to wildlife.
 There is a case of the noise pollution associated with wind production.
Solar energy
The production of solar energy is from solar radiation. It is being tapped by the use of the solar
panels.
Advantages

 This is a renewable source of energy and can be harnessed in any part of the world.
 It leads to the reduction of the electricity bills since it serves as a supplement
 It has diverse uses including being used as solar thermal and photovoltaic
 The maintenance cost is very low
Disadvantages
The drawbacks of this kind of energy include the following:
 It is weather dependent since it cannot be used during the stormy weather
 The initial cost of installation of the solar panels is very expensive.
 The storage of solar energy is very expensive especially in the case of the batteries.
Environmental impacts of different sources of energy technologies
Fossil Fuels
The use of fossils fuel is characterized by the production of greenhouse gases that potentially
leads to the promotion of global warming. The global warming is caused by the produced soot
from burning fossil fuels since it is cable of absorbing the sunlight instead of having it reflected.
This results into rise of the temperatures. The use of fossil fuels is associated with the
environmental destruction hence may not be relied upon for future solution of energy shortage
(Simmons 2013).
Nuclear power
So far this kind of energy is considered to be environmentally clean apart from the suspected
huge destruction in case it is mishandled. The storage of the radioactive wastes remains to be a
bigger challenge and the likelihood of failure of the nuclear energy plant is normally high. In

case such failure occurs, there will be massive loss of biodiversity. Despite these challenges,
proper handling of this technology can potentially provide a solution to energy shortage in the
future.
Hydroelectric power
This kind of energy comes from the dams. This basically implies the interruption of the aquatic
system. Some of the dams are associated with the triggered earthquakes.The tidal power sources
have similar environmental impacts. Other than the fluctuation of the volume of water
seasonally, this kind of energy technology can still be relied upon to meet the demands of future
energy.
Geothermal
During the extraction of heat from the underground, there is usually production of some
greenhouse gases though in little quantity. Earthquakes can be triggered by the bursting of
hydraulic fracturing. The production of this kind of energy is restricted to specific places hence
may not be relied upon to sufficiently meet the future demand for energy (Poinssot et al.2014).
Wind and Solar power
The impact of this kind of energy is relatively minimal. For the case of solar energy, it is the
chemicals from the solar panels that lead to the pollution of the environment. These two sources
are renewable and hence large scale harnessing can potentially provide a solution to the energy
shortage in the future.
Conclusion

The demand for energy is growing every day in all parts of the world. This has led to some of the
desperate measures to meet the demand. However, the sustainability of any technology for
energy production is directly determined by its impacts on the environment (Brook and
Bradshaw 2015). Solar energy, as well as the wind, is being embraced since their impacts on the
environment are minimal. This makes them be considered as part of the permanent solution to
the demands of energy in the future. Fossil fuels are facing very stiff completion from other
sources of energy as a result of their effects on the environment through pollution which has
resulted in global warming in certain places. They may not be the potential part of the solution to
the future demands of energy. Nuclear energy production should be researched properly to have
its impacts on the biodiversity reduced as little as possible. This will make it be the best solution
to the challenge of energy in the future. This is because the amount of energy that is produced
per unit atom is very large (De Groot, Steg and Poortinga 2013).

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