Nuclear Power: Pros & Cons By: Shokoofeh Akhavan Professor: Emily Brett August 2012

Overview Origins Fission Pros Economic Portability and Productivity Environmental Cons Waste Storage Accidents National Security

Origins First Controlled Chain Reaction under University Chicago Football field First reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1942 Originally designed production of weapons grade plutonium First Civilian Reactor in Obinsk, Russia 1952

Nuclear Power Cycle Functions Similarly to any fossil fuel power plant

Pros Economic Environmental Portability & Productivity

Economic Net external Costs are much cheaper then other forms of production As of 2005 Nuclear power was : – 3/4 the cost of coal – 1/5 the cost of gas Nuclear energy is, in many places, competitive with fossil fuels for electricity generation, despite relatively high capital costs and the need to internalize all waste disposal and decommissioning costs.

Environmental Lowest impact on the environment No combustion thus Zero emissions of greenhouse gases – Only external product is Steam Water used for cooling can be interchanged with the environment

Portability and Productivity Because nuclear power produces an enormous amount of energy using a very small amount of fuel, its average production cost is just 1.87 cents per kilowatt hour. A good wind project produces electricity only about 30 percent of the time. The sun shines only part of the time in much of the world, but nuclear energy is beneficial for various military and civilian applications. It leads to relative large amount of energy that produced per land area.

Cons Waste storage Accidents National Security Ease of peaceful usage to weapons program

Waste Storage One of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the waste: Store in cool dry place Radioactive indefinitely Difficult to store Has deadly Radiation

Disasters One of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the occurrence of accidents due to core meltdown. Chernobyl – Worst nuclear accident Three Mile island – Worst US Nuclear accident Most recent Dimitrovgrad in 1996 Most deadly recently Japan in 1994

National Security Waste storage sites, Plants, various aspects of transporting fissile material are “targets” to hostiles Not enough is being done to protect these sites

Power vs. Weapons Peaceful energy production can be very easily turned around into a weapons program Turn around time depending on reactor is approx 6 months

THE END Sources: TAS, Aug, 2012,Close to 70 percent favor zero nuclear plants in 2030,, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 2012,Origin Energy attacked for questioning RET, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, 2012,Nuclear Power Plants, World Nuclear Association, June 2010, Outline History of Nuclear Energy