The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is produced through the use of nuclear reactions to produce nuclear energy that can then be harnessed to generate heat and create superheated steam to drive turbines. The most common nuclear reaction is that of nuclear fission, which is the splitting of an atom’s nucleus into smaller nuclei. Nuclear reactions are incredibly energy dense and thus allow nuclear reactors to make a tremendous amount of electricity. There are only 61 nuclear power plants in the United States, but they account for 19 percent of the entire country’s electricity production. [8][14] There are 7,304 total power plants in the United States, so nuclear plants on average produce over twenty-eight times as much energy as another plant in the U.S.
Nuclear powers biggest drawback is the radiation produced that requires large amounts of shielding in order to protect workers and the surrounding areas. When nuclear plants have meltdowns, the melting of …show more content…
These scenarios have led to nuclear power having a very bad public reputation despite numerous statistics showing that other energy sources have been much more …show more content…
Nuclear powers biggest threat is from the public’s perception of it. As seen in Germany as well as throughout Europe, if the public deems something too unsafe and does not want to live near it, the governments will have no choice but to shut down the plants and look for different sources of energy. Compared to biofuels and solar power, nuclear power is already extremely established and generates a large share of the worlds’ power, and faces most of its issues in the political realm instead of the practical