Pros

1. Lower Greenhouse Emissions

- Release small amounts of CO2 and methane (responsible for greenhouse effect)
- Key role to play in reducing greenhouse gases
o Every 22 tons of uranium used to save 1 million tons of CO2 relative to coal
o Reduces CO2 emission by 2.5 billion tons per year

Graph: LCA emissions of natural gas are 15 times greater than nuclear
Emissions of coal generation are 30 times greater than nuclear
More beneficial in climate change, effects of nuclear power are relatively light compared to others

2. High energy density

- provides about 11% of the worlds electricity and 21% of electricity in OECD countries
- since 1990 nuclear power has accounted for about 20% of Americas energy
- 430 commercial nuclear power reactors operable in 31 countries and about 70 more are under construction
- suitable for large scale
o large operating capacity that meet the demands of industries and cities
- amount of fuel required in a nuclear power plant is smaller compared to other types

Graph: amount of fuel needed to power a 1GW power station

amount of energy released in a nuclear fission reaction is ten million times greater than the amount
released in burning fossil fuel atom

3. Reliability
- provides a constant source of energy running 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and need to be shut down
for maintenance purposes only
- can withstand rough weather conditions
- provides a stable base load of energy
o Foundation of a sound electrical system
o Base load are those plants which can generate dependable power to consistently meet demands
- Only nuclear and fossil fuels provides reliable base load power

Graph: without nuclear power the world would have to rely almost entirely on fossil fuels, to meet the demand for
base-load electricity production

4. Cost-efficient
- Several studies show that nuclear energy most cost-efficient of the available base load technologies
- Cost of uranium which is used as fuel in generating electricity is low
o It also requires little amount of uranium to produce energy
- Although set up costs of nuclear power plants are high, operation costs of it is low
- Average life of nuclear reactor range from 4 to 60 years, depending upon its usage
- Even if the cost of uranium rises, the increase in cost of electricity is much lower

5. Sustainable

Graph: Nuclear energy is the only technology to fulfill all of the requirements

CONS
1. Radioactive Waste
- Every nuclear power reactor annually generates 20-30 tons of high-level nuclear waste
o waste produced by nuclear reactors needs to be disposed off at a safe place since they are
extremely hazardous and can leak radiations if not stored properly
 - major bottleneck for expansion of nuclear programs
- Causes cancer and genetic mutations
- No known way to permanently contain, dispose or neutralize the waste
o Waste can lasts 200-500 thousand years

Graph Note: it can be manageable because of the small amount of radioactive wastes being produced (US nuclear
waste vs all other chemical waste)

2. Nuclear Accidents
- Hesitant: Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents
- Meltdown of a 500 MW reactor located 30 miles from a city would cause the immediate death of an
estimated 45,000 people, injure 70,000 and can cause $17 billion in property

Note: Of all the nuclear meltdowns and disasters not one has been caused by system failure but rather through
human error or natural disaster

3. Non renewable
- Uranium is a scarce resource
o Supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand
- Majority of known uranium around the world lies under land controlled by indigenous people who dont
support it being mined

Note:
- with further technical developments in the future, nuclear power can become renewable
- Thorium is believed to be a greener alternative and has been given an increased amount of attention
- China, India and Russia have already plans to start using thorium, as an alternative to uranium to fuel their
reactors in the future

4. High Risk
- wastes can be used to make nuclear weapons
- hot target for militants and terrorist organizations
- 1940s the nuclear technology was used in building nuclear bombs
- 1950s: source electricity
- shipping nuclear waste internationally poses an increased potential threat to interception to terrorism

Note: we can control it and we should be cautious in using the nuclear energy

Advantages of Nuclear to Wind and Solar:

Solar and wind energies are very dependable on the climate

A lot of land is needed for the small amount of energy generated
Nuclear energys life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions are lower than wind (7-124 grams of CO2) and solar
photovoltaic (13 to 731 grams of CO2)
Cost of electricity tend to be higher
Wind and solar energy do not produce electricity consistently
o Electricity generation from wind turbines varies with the wind speed, and if that wind is too weak or
too strong no electricity is produced at all. The output of solar panels is reliant on the strength of the
sunshine, which depends on the time of day and the amount of cloud cover. This means that
renewables have to be backed up by other forms of electricity generation, often fossil fuel
generation with their resultant greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable energies are not yet able to take over nuclear power because the development of these
energies are just beginning. This could be much more polluting and damaging than nuclear