Ensuring that the world has a sufficient resource of power is essential for a variety of reasons, especially now that we are so dependent on technology. Nuclear power plants are one of the various ways that the planet has access to electricity and energy. There are dozens of countries around the world that use these huge power plants to generate electricity for businesses, houses, and even entire industries. There are a variety of different pros and cons to take into account when you begin looking into nuclear power plants.
List of Pros of Nuclear Power Plants
1. Decreasing Pollution
One of the largest concerns that most people have with any type of energy production is the effect that it has on the environment. With nuclear power plants you don’t have to worry about the emission of toxic fumes and chemicals in the environment that are typically attributed to smog and pollution. In comparison to other ways to create energy, nuclear power plants emit extremely low levels of carbon dioxide. This can greatly help to reduce the prevalence of harmful air pollution.
2. Natural Resource
There are a few natural resources in the world, nuclear technology being one of them. This is what makes them so useful and reliable for creating an ample amount of energy. All that needs to be done is to take the natural resource and convert it into electricity once it is inside of power plants. It is also an incredibly powerful natural resource, which can be used to provide power for miles and miles.
3. Faster Energy Production
One of the main concerns that power plants have with making energy is not only ensuring that they have enough, but that it’s being made fast enough. In order to meet consumer demand, there needs to be a constant flow of energy from the power plants to homes and businesses in the area. Nuclear power plants provide the ability to have a consistent stream of electricity much faster than other types of power generating methods.
List of Cons of Nuclear Power Plants
Although there are a few important pros to nuclear power plants, much like anything in the world they do have their own fair share of disadvantages. It is impossible to find a completely perfect invention, but the cons of a nuclear power plant can create devastating effects that can ruin places in the world forever.
1. Radioactive Waste
Even though the major corporations release statements that nuclear power plants are safe for the environment, there’s a large loophole that they forget to mention. Yes, nuclear power plants product a smaller amount of carbon dioxide, but they are also responsible for producing radioactive waste. This alone is something that could completely ruin the environment on its own.
2. High Risks to Nature and Humans
It’s important to note that although there are a lot of technological implementations inside of a plant, it’s still necessary for people to work within its walls. This poses a uniquely high threat to humans that are employed by a nuclear power plant. Known to have the highest levels of security out of any industry, even 1 million security guards and state of the art security systems cannot prevent dangerous accidents. There have been several instances where workers have been injured or killed while on the job.
In terms of nature, accidents also have the ability to completely destroy any living thing within a certain radius of the nuclear power plant. For example, radiation can completely destroy the environment and people living in it.
3. Posing a Threat to Countries
When countries have nuclear power plants, they are typically one of the first targets that terrorist groups or conflicting parties find interesting. This is because nuclear energy is needed to create nuclear weapons, items that could eliminate hundreds of thousands of people within the blast radius of a single explosion. This is why the countries that house some of the largest nuclear power plants need to be careful when talking to other countries, as they essentially have a large target on their backs.
4. Depleting Amounts of Uranium
You might think that a nuclear power plant is created using concrete, mortar, and metal, much like any other type of structure. That is slightly true, though there is one main component called uranium that is necessary to ensure that the nuclear power plants are able to operate. All of the energy that they produce is extracted from uranium, which means that each day that a nuclear power plant is open, the levels of uranium in the planet are constantly depleting. Although it seems like a powerful and useful invention, it’s impossible to say that nuclear power plants are something that will last forever, as eventually they will run out of their natural resource.