Nuclear energy and Climate change

Environment   Aug 13, 2017 by Bisharah Juraij - Pimlico

When we hear the word nuclear the first thing which pops in our heads are "Chernobyl, Hiroshima on Nagasaki", but what exactly do we know about Nuclear Energy? What effect does it have on climate change? To answer this question we need to understand what climate change is and what effect it has on our Planet. Climate change is natural occurring process in the environment; if it is a natural occurrence why is this a big issue nowadays? Even though climate is natural occurrence it is happening in a faster rate than it ever happened before.

What is nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is derived from splitting the relatively large atoms with a series of controlled nuclear reactions. Believe it or not, Nuclear energy is one of the CLEANEST ways to derive electricity, and is one of the LOWEST carbon emitting sources of energy. Nuclear energy, Solar energy and Wind powered energy are the best three sources of greenhouse friendly energy sources, but Compared to wind energy Nuclear energy provides more long lasting and powerful energy. According to http://www.nuclearconnect.org/know-nuclear/talking-nuclear/pollution-environment if Nuclear energy was the main source of electricity provider it would cause less harm than that Coal/hydro energy is producing.

However, why are we afraid to make the move and use Nuclear energy instead of coal, water and fossil fuel?The problem lies within our eyes, Humans have a natural tendency for not wanting to change. Apart from that there are many barriers regarding that, Politicians will argue that it is very expensive, a normal citizen would argue it is very risky but environmentalists will argue that “nuclear power plants releases no carbon dioxide, avoiding emissions of over two billion tons per year”. The main barrier is WHERE DO WE DISPOSE THE NUCLEAR WASTE??? A typical nuclear power plant in a year generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel. The nuclear industry generates a total of about 2,000 - 2,300 metric tons of used fuel per year. For the short run, nuclear power might be handy but for the long run it is impractical. If we dispose these waste underground it will pollute the underground waterways and soil, the only other alternative would be sending it to space, which would immediately pollute the atmosphere and is practically impossible.

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