What is the environmental impact of nuclear energy?
The environmental impact of nuclear power results from the nuclear fuel cycle, operation, [ and the effects of nuclear accidents.
The routine health risks and greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear fission power are small relative to those associated with coal, but there are "catastrophic risks":[1] the possibility of over-heated fuel releasing massive quantities of fission products to the environment, and nuclear weapons proliferation. The public is sensitive to these risks and there has been considerable public opposition to nuclear power. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident and 1986
Chernobyl disaster, along with high construction costs, ended the rapid growth of global nuclear power capacity.[1]
In March 2011 an earthquake and tsunami caused damage that led to explosions and partial meltdowns at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Concerns about the possibility of a large scale radiation leak resulted in 20 km exclusion zone being set up around the power plant and people within the 20–30 km zone being advised to stay indoors. John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK's National Nuclear Corporation, has said that it "might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant". ]
Expert answered|
jher000|Points 7413|
Question
Asked 6/18/2012 12:29:34 PM
Updated 6/18/2012 1:07:35 PM
1 Answer/Comment
This answer has been confirmed as correct and helpful.
