Nuclear Power

Is nuclear worth the risk?

Many have long been concerned about the safety of nuclear power, and feel that the recent disaster in Japan once again highlights the dangers associated with this method of producing energy. As a consequence, there has been a backlash against nuclear power with many claiming that enough is enough, and that now is the time to end our relationship with nuclear power for good.

Additionally, new advances in technologies such as shale gas could potentially produce a new source of abundant energy, so why continue to pursue nuclear when there are clearly other safer or more ‘progressive’ options

Worldwide standard operating procedures at nuclear power plants offer little margin for safety errors, and the industry is scrambling to check safety at each station. But can it reliably prevent another accident? Accidents are difficult to predict and have immediate far-reaching consequences, compounded by the fact that most nuclear reactors are located near major population centers – Moscow, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Budapest, Kiev. It is nearly impossible to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in a timely fashion, even with advance warning of several days

Vulnerable to terrorism

Reactors around the world – 55 in Japan, 103 in the US, 40 in Russia, and so on – are also vulnerable to terrorism. For example, a National Academy of Sciences report in 2005 indicated that pools holding spent fuel stored at these reactors might not withstand a determined attack. The industry is now touting – and building – “floating” nuclear power stations that would operate on barges; clearly protection of these stations would be difficult.

Opposition

Comparatively speaking, nuclear still remains one of the safest forms of energy, with Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima the only three major accidents to have occurred in over 14,500 cumulative reactor-years of commercial operation in 32 countries [Ref: World Nuclear Association]. Why abandon nuclear...