Con(tamination)s of Nuclear Power

In the last post, we looked at nuclear power from a positive light and looked at all the benefits of it.  In this post, however, we will look at the downsides of nuclear power and why it is not the best source of energy in the future and today.  So, let's begin.

(Pixabay)

The main disadvantage of nuclear energy is nuclear meltdowns.  This is a very understandable concern, because nobody likes it when things meltdown, especially nuclear plants...and ice cream.  This concern is heightened due to the Chernobyl disaster which has still left the area unlivable to this day.  According to Conserve Energy Future, even small radiation leaks can be detrimental to people's health.  Radiation can cause sickness such as nausea, fatigue, and even death.  Symptoms like this can even effect the scientists that research nuclear power, such as Marie Curie one of the most famous scientists studying radioactivity who sadly died from radiation poisoning.  Radiation leaks, although rare, can be very dangerous to people who work in nuclear plants as well as people who live near them.  Sadly, radiation is not the only dangerous thing that can come out of nuclear plants.



Another dangerous thing that comes out of nuclear reactors is nuclear waste.  Nuclear waste is very dangerous because it is another way that radiation can be released into the world.  This radiation released from nuclear waste does not turn you into a superhero, or a ninja if you're a turtle, but can cause radiation poisoning which, as we already know is very dangerous.  It is important that this nuclear waste is disposed of in a safe way so that this dangerous radiation does not occur.  However, according to Conserve Energy Future, this is a big problem with nuclear waste.  That is because it is very expensive and hard to store nuclear waste right so that it is no longer dangerous.  It also doesn't help that it can take hundreds of years for the nuclear waste to stop being dangerous.  On the flip side, one use for this nuclear waste, is to make nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons, although a good use for nuclear waste, are not necessarily a good thing.  Nuclear weapons are extremely dangerous and can cause extreme amounts of damage.  According to Nuclearenergy.net, the only time that nuclear weapons were used militarily was during World War II.  This showed the power of nuclear weapons and the destruction that they can cause.  From that time forward people came to fear using nuclear weapons.  This fear came to a front during the Cold War when the threat of a nuclear war was at its highest.  With the continued use of nuclear power, there is always going to be the fear that someone will try to harness the power for destructive rather than constructive purposes.

(Pixabay)

A final disadvantage to nuclear power is that the fuel needed to create it is nonrenewable as well as scarce in some regions.  Uranium is the main fuel for nuclear plants, but many countries around the world have no local access to this element, and have to get it sent in from other places says Conserve Energy Future.  This scarcity shows that the world is already low on uranium, so it is only a matter of time before it runs out.  This leads into the fact that uranium is a nonrenewable resource, and it will one day run out.  There are already other renewable sources of power, such as solar power, and wind power, that are just as successful in creating energy as nuclear power, but also can cost much less to put together and run.

As you can see, the debate of nuclear power is very heated.  Although there are many disadvantages to nuclear power such as, nuclear waste, radiation, weapons, and it being nonrenewable, we can not forget that there are still some benefits to its use.  If you would like to be reminded of these benefits, you can look back at our last post on the benefits of nuclear power.  Now that we have an understanding of the good and bad sides of nuclear power, we can look at some current events happening in the nuclear power world.  Even, though the road to deciding whether to use nuclear power is hard to follow at times, but it is up to individuals to decide what they think is the right path.

(Pixabay)