Is nuclear energy a good source of energy?

Answer 1

Nuclear power is one of the cleanest sources of energy, that produces gigawatts of power on a minimum amount of land, with no carbon emission.

Most industrialized countries have a power consumption too high to be served by renewable sources in the amount needed, at least until the technology continues to improve and becomes widespread, so nuclear power is one of the best options for today's technological society.

The two main drawbacks of nuclear are safety, as seen in 1986 in Chernobyl and during the 2011 Japanese tsunami, and the disposal of radioactive wastes.

Bad design, bad procedures and human errors are responsible for the former, and can be avoided with good design and automated assistance and control.

For the latter, new developments in nuclear technology may soon provide a solution. Terrapower in my home city is for instance developing a breeder reactor that uses depleted uranium rods as fuel. The depleted rods are actually still very rich in uranium (which is why disposal is a problem,) just not enough in proportion for a normal nuclear reactor to use as fuel.

Still, these very recent developments are far from being applicable to a full size reactor for years yet, and are rather complex, so we should work on multiple fronts, one of which can provide immediate savings, for instance reducing the demand for energy in industrialized countries, at home (CFL and LED lighting, powering off appliances, solar device chargers, reducing heating) and in the industry.

Answer 2

Yes. It's greener and safer than any other form of energy we know of.

Nuclear is also far greener than other power sources. Coal power, for instance, produces so much pollution that it kills the same number of people as the Chernobyl disaster every few weeks. In fact, because coal is slightly radioactive, and coal power plants have to burn so much of it to produce any power, coal power plants release as much radiation into the atmosphere every few days as the Three Mile Island disaster.

Renewables like wind and solar are not capable of supplying our energy needs, and take up huge amounts of land in the attempt, requiring us to clearcut forests to make room for them. Also, installing rooftop solar panels and maintaining wind turbines are very dangerous jobs. More Americans have been killed working on wind turbines (53) than have been killed in nuclear power plant accidents (3).

Answer 3

Nuclear power is actually one of the most reliable energy sources. It had gotten a bad rap in the past, but since the nuclear power industry has cleaned up it has become quite viable.

Answer 4

Renewable? No. But it is cleaner than coal, and produces no "greenhouse gasses" or atmospheric pollutants.

Answer 5

We can't say nuclear energy as best source of energy until we find an convenient way to use it. But we can say that in future nuclear energy may become one of the best source of energy.

Answer 6

1. Because it pollutes the earth and may not be much in future.

Answer 7

Most nuclear reactors have a life cycle of 40 years which can be easily extended further for 20 more years.