3. Nuclear energy

Nuclear power

Nuclear power stations work similar to fossil fuel power plants, except for the fact that the heat is produced by the reaction of uranium inside a nuclear reactor. The reactor uses uranium rods, the atoms of which are split in the process of fission, releasing a large amount of energy. The process continues as a chain reaction with other nuclei takes place. The heat released heats water to create steam, which spins a turbine, producing electricity.

Pros
The energy content of a kilogram of uranium or thorium is equivalent to about 3.5 million kilograms of coal.
The cost of making nuclear power, with current legislation, is about the same as making coal power, which is considered very inexpensive.[citation needed]
Nuclear power plants are guarded with the nuclear reactor inside a reinforced containment building, and thus are relatively impervious to terrorist attack or adverse weather conditions.[citation needed]
Nuclear power does not produce any air pollution (except for radioactivity from the (filtered) ventilation system) or release carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, it does not contribute to global warming or acid rain.



Cons
Waste produced from nuclear fission of uranium is poisonous, and highly radioactive, requiring maintenance and monitoring at the storage sites. Moreover, the long-term disposal of the long-lived nuclear waste causes serious problems, since (unless the spent fuel is reprocessed) it takes from one to three thousand years for the spent fuel to come back to the natural radioactivity of the uranium ore body that was mined to produce it.
The operation of an uncontained nuclear reactor near human settlements can be catastrophic, as shown by the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine (former USSR), where large areas of land were affected by nuclear fallout. Members of the public are concerned about the overall safety of nuclear power plants.
The limited liability for the owner of a nuclear power plant in case of a nuclear accident (since: Treaty of Paris 29th of july 1960 to stimulate development of nuclear technology) can be seen as an indirect subsidy by national and European governments or as external costs. Influence of insurance premium per kWh nuclear electricity: [source: NEA: Methodologies for Assessing the Economic Consequences of Nuclear Reactor Accidents.– Paris 2000, p.34.]
The limited liability for the owner of a nuclear power plant in case of a nuclear accident differs per nation while nuclear installations are often build close to national borders.
Large capital cost. Building a nuclear power plant requires a huge investment[citation needed], and the costs of safe disassembling (called decommissioning) after it reaches end of usable life must be factored into the full lifecycle budget.
There can be connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapon proliferation, since both require large-scale uranium enrichment facilities.
An international organization (the IAEA) supervises a lot but not all reactors[citation needed].
Nuclear fuels are non-renewable energy sources, with unknown high concentration ore reserves. There is a large amount of trace concentration nuclear material in seawater and most rocks; however, extraction from these is not economical.
Uranium mining activities produce greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming[citation needed].

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