The benefits of nuclear energy There are many benefits of nuclear energy : 1.

It's environmentally clean - no emissions of greenhouse gases CO2 or other nasty gases. CO2 - carbon dioxide - is roduced !hen !e burn any fossil fuel" it is one of the main gases contributing to the greenhouse effect and leading to atmos heric !arming. #olar ca s and glaciers may melt and the sea level may rise dro!ning seacoasts and ort cities. Coal and oil $ etrol% have sulfur im urities and !hen they are burned sulfur dioxide goes u the stac& - it's res onsible for acid rain. 'hen any fossil fuel $coal( oil or natural gas% is burned( nitrogen oxides are also roduced - they cause smog and city ollution. )uclear fuel is ure $no sulfur%( it is not in contact !ith the air $no nitrogen%( and it roduces no smo&e or exhaust: everything is confined in the fuel element. 2. )uclear energy is chea . *ven !hen oil and gas rices are lo!( nuclear electric energy is com etitive !ith fossil fuel. In 1+,-( 1+., and 2/// !e hadoil crises !ith the rice doubling and more in a fe! days or a fe! !ee&s. 0asoline and fuel oil $and eventually electricity% had to follo! the rice rise. This goes !ith: -. )uclear energy rices are stable. 1 country $or an electric com any% can buy years of su ly of uranium !hen the rice is lo!" it doesn't ta&e u much s ace and can be easily stored until needed. 2ost countries $or utilities% don't have s ace to store more than - or 3 months su ly of fossil fuels. 4. 5ranium is lentiful - there's enough to last most of a century if !e use 6ust the 52-7 $/.,8%. 'hen !e develo 9ast )eutron :eactors( !e !ill convertthe 5-2-. $++.-8% to lutonium that is also a nuclear fuel" that means the uranium !ill last 7/ times longer or more. )atural gas and oil reserves are estimated in decades" there's lots of coal( but it's nasty $see 1 above%. 7. )uclear energy is safe. 1ll human activities are ris&y( es ecially those involving large amounts of energy: trans ortation( construction( mining and oil !ell ex loitation( etc. In the half century of the )uclear 1ge( about oneor t!o deaths er year have been attributable to nuclear energy. This includes Three 2ile Island $T2I 1+,+% and Chernobyl $1+.3%. 1t T2I( no dead( no in6ured( no one much irradiated off the site of the o!er station - robably more eo le !ere &illed in traffic accidents !hile trying to flee in mista&en terror $see belo!%. 1t Chernobyl( about 7/ eo le died as a result of the accident - they !ere !or&ers in the lant and firefighters" about 17// eo le got thyroid cancers from eating food contaminated !ith radio-iodine( but that disease can usually be treated !ith success - less than ten have died of it. On the other hand( you often hear about coal mine accidents !ith tens to hundreds dead in each accident. There !as a big one in China this !ee&; <ou may hear less about oil field accidents - they are less s ectacular - not so many dead at any one time( but the numbers add u . 7.1 The next generation of nuclear o!er stations !ill be safer and more efficient: they are being develo ed in California and in =outh 1frica.

7.2 If the same safety re>uirements !ere im osed on mining( oil ex loitation and the chemical industry( they !ould be ut out of business. 3. Coal( oil and gas are recious feedstoc& materials for the chemical industry and relatively scarce $see 4 above% - all &inds of lastics start !ith these in uts( for exam le. They should not be !asted by burning them for their energy content. ,. 2any eo le are concerned about radioactivity and !aste roducts. ,.1 'e live in a constant bath of ioni?ing radiation from cosmic rays( from radon in the atmos here( from the radioactive otassium and carbon-14 in our o!n bodies. This accounts for about 2@- of the dose you get - you can't esca eit. 1bout 1@- comes from medical treatment - xrays and so forth - your dentist uses xrays to find out about your teeth before he begins drilling. 1bout 18 $one ercent;% comes from atmos heric tests of nuclear !ea ons( fortunately sus ended some years ago( but some radioactivity lingers on. 2uch less than one tenth of one ercent is due to nuclear energy generating stations. ,.2 In generating nuclear energy( the !aste roducts $fission roducts% are com letely confined in the cladding of the fuel elements. 'hen they come out of the reactor( they are highly radioactive - AhotA( but the radioactivity decays >uic&ly. =o they are stored on the site for a year or t!o until they are AcoolA enough to be shi ed to a re rocessing lant or to ermanent storage. <ou can't say the same about fossil fuels their !aste roducts are dum ed into the atmos here - go u the stac& - come out of the exhaust i e. ,.- The volume of nuclear !aste roduced in ma&ing enough electric energy to run an all-electric household for -/ years !ould fit in a cigarette ac&age. ,.4 It is believed that tens of thousands of regnant !omen had unnecessary abortions after the Chernobyl accident" they !ere afraid that the foetuses they !ere carrying !ould be deformed by the radiation( and their doctors !ere e>ually ignorant or unable to convince them that there !as little ris&. These !ere truly victims of the accident. ,.7 #eo le are afraid of things that they don't understand( that they can't see" and that includes Aghosties and ghoulies and things that go bum in the nightA as !ell as radioactivity and radiation. This lac& of &no!ledge is fed u on by !hat I li&e to call Amerchants of fearA - it ma&es 6uicy stories and hel s sell their ne! a ers and maga?ines - never mind that !hat they tell is not true - so long as the cash &ee s rolling in. Bearn about it and don't be afraid; Cerol :obinson Bocal corres ondent of *9) for )orth 1merica DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Eisit our !ebsite : htt :@@!!!.ecolo.org and clic& on AFocumentsA for more information.