Want to Know it? Answers to life's questions

Have a Question?

If you have a question you can search for the answer below!

Advantages of Nuclear Power

05 Nov, 2008 pros and cons

Everyone knows that nuclear power plants are, potentially, very dangerous. But what are some of the advantages of nuclear power? That is what this post will cover.

Advantages (Pros):

  • Nuclear power plants are more efficient than ever before. New technology has made them more reliable (they break down less often) and safer. People for nuclear power argue that this is evidenced by more and more nations (such as China) building nuclear power plants.
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a contentious issue. Proponents of nuclear power argue that, as no coal or fossil fuels are burnt, no carbon dioxide is released into the air. However, uranium has to be mined and transported to the nuclear plant. Both these activities require burning of fuels, so carbon dioxide is released. Also, producing nuclear fuel from the uranium requires a lot of energy, which also contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases.
  • Although the initial cost of building nuclear plants is high, the running costs are relatively low.
  • One reason the costs are low is that nuclear plants need only a small amount of uranium to produce a lot of energy. In fact, if the cost of uranium doubled, costs would only be increased by 7%. 1 truck of uranium produces as much energy as 1000 trucks of coal!
  • Reduces dependence on foreign oils and natural gas (like biofuels). America, for instance, imports a lot of oil and natural gas from other countries. The price of these products is volatile, and change very quickly. If the price increases quickly, consumers have to pay more for their electricity (which they may not be able to afford). Building more nuclear power plants means that Americans will not be susceptible to price rises in oil and gas. President Barack Obama supports this idea of ‘energy independence’.
  • Nuclear wastes can be safely stored underground (another debated issue).

Other Environmental Topics:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Power

True Facts about Global Warming

(91) Comments

  2. Emily L.

    This helped with my science homework too. It’s very informational and well written. It’s easy to understand. This article was pretty good.

  8. Susan . O

    This was AMAZING! I used it for science homework. It not cheating it learning! coursework is hard!

  10. Want to know it

    Yes it’s true. 1 truck of uranium will produce the same amount of power as 1000 trucks of coal.

  12. CHARL H

    this website was absolutely amazing, it really helped me with my homework and i am coming back here in future.
    I LOVE THIS SITE !!!!!!!

  15. Roxanne Spears

    Hey This Site Is Awesome ! 🙂
    I Agree Widd All The Comments Below .
    This Has Helped Me Widd My Geography Homework A Lot ‘ .

    =]

    (Y)

    Roxyy x

  16. rachel (L) !

    i think this site is okay, but it says it’s the advantages and it talks about how the mining and transportation of the uranium produces carbon dioxide, which is a disadvantage?
    overall, good though 😀 !

  17. Want to know it

    Thanks for the nice comment Rachel. I talked about the mining/transport leading to CO2 emissions as many people forget this and think that nuclear power leads to no carbon dioxide emissions at all!

  21. Ollie Willis

    Thanks helped me with my Geography and environmental studies A level on strategies to critically assess anthropogenic climate change ^^

  24. Georgina

    ahhhhh, thankyou!! amazing for my science homework 🙂 everyone else is like ra ra ra , nuclear is bad, but these are good points that my teachers is going to be impressed by! 😀 cheers xx

  30. Jada J.

    Wow! This helped for my science essay– thanks. 😀 Oh and– those were some real good points on, what nuclear power “is good for” so to speak.

  36. Holly Wong

    It is good for me too~
    it gives me a lot of ideas.and the words are not too difficult.
    it helps me a lot ~
    i’ve read some other articles,but not good as this one.
    THX!! ^^

  37. Karlee

    😀 this is great!
    this has helped me loads for my gcse coursework!
    great site lots of information!
    but I don’t know about nuclear half-life?
    could it help?
    🙂

  38. Smith

    Its the time for its radioactive mass to half or decay which is normally different depending on the different radioactive sources used. Any help?

  42. Charlie

    this really helped with my science homework
    thanks alot Want To Know It
    you are like the best website i found today and i have like 20 tabs up all with different websites

    THANKS ALOT — YOUR A LIFESAVER – Literally

  44. Mike

    Good information. The problem is, I need the author’s name and his/her qualifications for my debate homework.

  46. gemma lightly

    hello,
    i am sitting in the school library doing my case study on nuclear power.. yes it sucks. but anyway your information is useful, but more information be would be useful 😀

  47. Holly

    Have been reading the comments and think I have a new homework subject! I quoted the 1 truck uranium, 1000 trucks coal bit writing my “Environmental Issues and Policies” assignment. Im studying for my National Diploma Countryside Management! Great info, interesting points. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You can use these HTML tags and attributes <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>