Fukushima Daiichi, on March 11, 2011.
4
The last nuclear power plant built in Georgia, USA, was the Alvin W. Vogtle facility in Burke county, Georgia. It is a two unit Westinghouse PWR, completed in 1987 (Unit I) and 1989 (Unit II), rated 1215 MWe each. There are no nuclear power plants in Georgia, the country.
As far as I know the last failure requiring a write off of the reactor was at Chernobyl in 1986.
Radioactive wastes that can last thousands of years
The last plant built in the US began construction in 1977. That's the "River Bend" plant in Lousiana.
Nuclear power is cleaner. · The problem of radioactive waste is still an unsolved one. The waste from nuclear energy is extremely dangerous and it has to be carefully looked after for several thousand years (10'000 years according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards).· High risks: Despite a generally high security standard, accidents can still happen. It is technically impossible to build a plant with 100% security. A small probability of failure will always last. The consequences of an accident would be absolutely devastating both for human being as for the nature (see here , here or here ). The more nuclear power plants (and nuclear waste storage shelters) are built, the higher is the probability of a disastrous failure somewhere in the world.· Nuclear power plants as well as nuclear waste could be preferred targets for terrorist attacks. No atomic energy plant in the world could withstand an attack similar to 9/11 in Yew York. Such a terrorist act would have catastrophic effects for the whole world.· During the operation of nuclear power plants, radioactive waste is produced, which in turn can be used for the production of nuclear weapons. In addition, the same know-how used to design nuclear power plants can to a certain extent be used to build nuclear weapons (nuclear proliferation).· The energy source for nuclear energy is Uranium. Uranium is a scarce resource, its supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand.· The time frame needed for formalities, planning and building of a new nuclear power generation plant is in the range of 20 to 30 years in the western democracies. In other words: It is an illusion to build new nuclear power plants in a short time.Sustainability: Is nuclear energy sustainable?For several reasons, nuclear power is neither «green» nor sustainable:· Both the nuclear waste as well as retired nuclear plants are a life-threatening legacy for hundreds of future generations. It flagrantly contradicts with the thoughts of sustainability if future generations have to deal with dangerous waste generated from preceding generations. See also here . · Uranium, the source of energy for nuclear power, is available on earth only in limited quantities. Uranium is being «consumed» (i.e. converted) during the operation of the nuclear power plant so it won't be available any more for future generations. This again contradicts the principle of sustainability.Nuclear Power Plant Accidents and Terrorism· According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, regulated safety procedures are not being followed to ensure that nuclear power plants are safe. Even if all safety precautions are followed, it is no guarantee that a nuclear power plant accident will not occur. If a nuclear power plant accident occurs, the environment and surrounding people could be exposed to high levels of radiation. Terrorism threats are another concern that needs to be addressed. A satisfactory plan to protect nuclear power plants from terrorism is not in place.
New Nuclear plants continue to be built across the the world all the time. Here in the United States, it has become a political propaganda tool by some political groups who care nothing for what their stated goals are, but only for the leverage the subject can give them as a political power issue. This, along with safety concerns after the Three Mile Island accident, has led to a virtual halt to new nuclear plant construction here in the U.S., and an increase in coal and oil fired power plants that add to greenhouse gases and global warming. The rest of the world isn't quite as ignorant though. Japan is a good example of a country that gets most of its electricity from Nuclear Power. The only country where nuclear weapons have been used offensively, Japan uses Nuclear Power as their primary source of electricity. Japan is the 2nd largest user of Nuclear Power in the world. Though some incidents there have led to some construction slowdowns, new plants are still a priority for them.
None as far as I know, but that is because it is very well controlled and contained. There are tales of things that happened in Soviet Russia, in the 50's and 60's, but little is known for sure. I don't class Chernobyl as nuclear waste, that was a damaged operating reactor.
No new nuclear plants have been built in the US in the past 20 years. The Watts Bar plant was licenced in 1996, but had been built much earlier. The last plant actually built was the River Bend plant in Louisiana, which was licenced in 1986.
About 100 years.
4x1000MW coal-fired ultra-supercritical power plant at Yuhuan in China is supposed to be the world's bidgest coal power plant. Plant is located on the coast of East China's Zhejiang Province. The last (4th) unit of plant began commercial operation in November 2007. The plant run at about 45% thermal efficiency. Yuhuan Units are supposed to be the most cleanest, most efficient and most advanced ultra super critical units of today's world." Vivek Asthana Panki Thermal Power Station, Kanpur
104 at the last count (ie number of nuclear reactors). See www.nrc.gov