Do nuclear power plants create serious hazards to public health and the environment?

Answer 1

AnswerYes and no. Provided a plant is working properly with all the safety regulations seen to, there is little to worry about. The danger is if they aren't. An accident can have catastrophic effects, as was seen in Ukraine in 1986. Answeryes it does if you live in a area near a nuclear power plant you should be very aware because you can catch harmful diseases like cancer and leukemia ..i would seriously think about moving ,check out the statistics of people that have died because of these disease on the link below
Yes, although they are largely misunderstood by the general public.

There are several risks associated with nuclear power plants. The most serious (in my opinion) is the question of nuclear waste. Using nuclear power generates radioactive waste which will be radioactive for thousands and thousands of years. This waste must be stored in a safe place so that humans and other living things are not exposed to the dangerous radiation. The storage of the waste is an extremely difficult problem to solve, both on a technological and scientific level, but also on a political level. Would you want nuclear waste stored in your neighborhood?! This question of what to do with the waste has by no means been solved by anybody in the world. Currently, all the nuclear waste generated by humans on earth is stored in temporary sites. This temporary solution will not be acceptable in the long term.

The other major problems with nuclear power are the risk of dangerous radioactive materials getting in the hands of our enemies or terrorists. There are many ways these dangerous materials could be used to cause tremendous damage to humans and the environment alike if it got into the wrong hands.

There is always some risk of an accident occurring at a plant. This is the least well understood risk. Nuclear power plants are built with extremely fancy technology today, and the risk of serious accidents is extremely low. They are built to withstand the impact of a jet airplane flying into them with no damage! Even famous accidents like the one at Three Mile Island didn't actually release any radioactive material into the environment. There is the famous Chernobyl reactor accident in Russia, which a real disaster for human life as well as the environment. The risk of a similar accident is extremely low however due to major improvements in technology and plant design.

The other major effect of nuclear reactors on the environment is that they need water to cool them. They are often built near a river for this reason. Because the water is used to cool them, that means the water is being heated by the plant. This can raise the average temperature of the water in the river. Changing the temperature of the water can have a very serious and detrimental effect on fish and other organisms living in the river.

Obviously, there are opposing views to this question. The storage of nuclear waste is really the main issue. Any generation of energy involves risk, whether it be by coal, natural gas, or nuclear power. The management of that risk is a matter of debate; in general nuclear power plant operation in the United States has an extremely low risk of affecting the public health. Even the worst power generating reactor accident in the United States (Three Mile Island) resulted in zero deaths attributable to the accident itself.

As far as storage of the waste goes...while many state that the current storage solutions are temporary, that is also debatable. It is the issue we need to address, but it isn't as 'horrible' as some might lead you to believe.