For the first week of our citizen science project, I looked into the logistics behind Nuclear Power (NP) and the pros and cons of it.
Some pros I found were that NP is relatively clean compared to the usage of fossil fuels as it does not emit carbon dioxide smoke. This means that it leaves a smaller carbon footprint on the environment. Fossil Fuels and coal leaves a huge carbon footprint and emits numerous greenhouse gases, which are linked to the idea of global warming. Although, the con of NP is that it does produce radioactive waste, which is extremely difficult to handle and get rid of. The waste must be contained and has an extremely long life span. The waste can take thousands of years to stop emitting massive amounts of radiation.
Consequently, this relates to the economics of NP. The power generated from the plants is actually at a much greater quantity relative to wind, water, and coal. The issue that creates controversy is once again the waste. The contradiction is that even though NP may efficiently produce energy, it still creates large amounts of toxic waste. The removal and handling of this waste in itself raises the total costs.
The debate is among the issue if Np has too great of an impact on the environment. The waste that is produced can cause mutations and death among organisms that live around the disposal site. Although, the waste is much cleaner/greener than other sources of power. This is essential because global warming can be linked to the death of thousands of species of animals worldwide. In the present, NP can be beneficial such that it can replace the harmful methods of producing energy and can reverse or decrease the impact of global warming. In the long term, the radioactive wastes would accumulate. The most important issue may be to find a groundbreaking approach to eradicating the toxic waste.
I believe that NP in general has a negative connotation, especially with disasters such as Chernobyl. I hope to find new leads and sources on ways that NP can grow and change into an energy source that can change our environmental impact.
