Inside a nuclear power plant

Nuclear Power is potentially the greatest boon to the provision of carbon free, low cost electrical power. Sadly it is also potentially very hazardous to man and as such has many powerful detractors. In the light of the current situation in Japan with a 40 year old reactor having been severely damaged and leaking radiation

Nuclear Power Plants Map

English: This map shows the commercial nuclear power plants around the world. 

   Operating reactors, building new reactors

   Operating reactors, planning new build

   No reactors, building new reactors

   No reactors, new in planning

   Operating reactors, stable

   Operating reactors, considering phase-out

   Civil nuclear power is illegal

   No reactors

Little-Known Facts About Nuclear Power

• Less radiation is given off by a nuclear power plant than a coal-burning plant.
• France exports electricity from nuclear power for profit.
• Chernobyl-type plants can not be built or operated in the United States.
• Nuclear power plants emit no carbon dioxide (which contributes to global warming and the greenhouse effect) nor sulfur and nitrogen oxides (which cause acid rain).

Pros

Little Pollution

The soft coal, which many power plants burn, contains sulfur When the gaseous byproducts are absorbed in clouds, precipitation becomes sulfuric acid. Coal also contains radioactive material. A coal-fired power plant emits more radiation into the air than a nuclear power plant.

Reliability

Nuclear power plants need little fuel, so they are less vulnerable to shortages because of strikes or natural disasters. 

Safety

Safety is both a pro and con, depending on which way you see it. Each year, 10,000 to 50,000 Americans die from respiratory diseases due to the burning of coal, and 300 are killed in mining and transportation accidents. In contrast, no Americans have died or been seriously injured because of a reactor accident or radiation exposure from American nuclear power plants.

Cons

Meltdowns

If there is a loss of coolant water in a fission reactor, the rods would overheat. The rods that contain the uranium fuel pellets would dissolve, leaving the fuel exposed. The temperature would increase with the lack of a cooling source.  When the fuel rods heat to 2800°C, the fuel would melt, and a white-hot molten mass would melt its way through the containment vessels to the ground below it.

 

Radiation
Radiation doses of about 200 rems cause radiation sickness, but only if this large amount of radiation is received all at once. The average person receives about 200 millirems a year from everyday objects and outer space.

Waste Disposal
The byproducts of the fissioning of uranium-235 remains radioactive for thousands of years, requiring safe disposal away from society until they lose their significant radiation values. Many underground sites have been constructed, only to be filled within months.

Nuclear Power Good or Bad

Nuclear Power

After researching on how nuclear power actually works and how it is created. What the difference between sustainability, fatalities and costs when comparing to fossil fuels.

Coming from New Zealand where we have been declared as a Nuclear free country from 1984 maybe it is time to reconsider to producing nuclear power for an everyday source.In 1984 a bill to ban that included nuclear armed and powered ships as well as nuclear reactors . One man that is well known for his stance against nuclear power is David Lange.