Advantages & Disadvatages of Nuclear Power Plant

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California, USA

Advantages

Abundance source of energy

Uranium is a type of element that can be sustain from crust of the earth. It mostly can be find in Canada and Australia. It’s virtually inexhaustible type of energy source and it will there for centuries.

Extra amount of energy

To become a develop country, bigger industry sector predicted to be in the future in Malaysia. Sufficient power needed to support this.

No Emission

Other source of energy like fossil fuel does emit much type of gases.

The waste

Nuclear waste is not in a big quantity and confined. It won’t affect the surroundings like for example, the factory waste being disposed in the river.

Disadvantages

Nature catastrophe

It may cause a big problem when nature catastrophe like earth quake or tsunami hit it. Radiation will be spread widely.

Nuclear weapon from nuclear technology

Bad people exist in this world. Yes, nuclear weapon is the worst weapon in the world but this is not due to the nuclear power plant technology but the misused of some individuals for their own good.

Arguement on Nuclear Power Plant

The Safety?

If we remember back in 2011 in Japan. What happen to the residents of a country that has nuclear power plant if nature catastrophe or natural disaster occurs?

A safety measures has been put by the world relating to nuclear power plant. As matter of fact, during the Japan disaster, many countries come to help and as the result, the disaster was totally under control, no doubt about it.

Japan Tsunami 2011: Tsunami has swapped all the obstacles in front of it

Will the radiation leak of nuclear power plant can be controlled if its occurred?

Remember disaster happen in Chernobyl, Ukraine back in 1985 when one of the reactor suffered power increase and leading to explosion in its core and as the result, explosion and fire from the nuclear power plant released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere that create very bad radiation even throughout 100 miles from the reactor.



First Picture: Chernobyl Liquidators.  Second Picture: DNA distortion due to radiation.



It’s a sad thing happen back in 1986, the history shall not be repeated. As can be seen in Tsunami 2011 Japan, with tighter safety measures has been straighten up, it’s a compulsory to make sure the technical error will not ever happen, to make sure the technology will not harm people again.

Japan activist carrying a man into safety location

How about the cost? Because from research, even the decommissioning will be around RM 1 Billion to do so?

If we calculate everything and take everything into account, the per kW/h for nuclear is cheaper compare to any other type of power plant. For long term, it will give back the profit to the electricity provider and citizens. Plus, Malaysia needs to increase the electricity capacity to attract investors to Malaysia.

Public Survey on Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear Waste Management

• Nuclear waste is the material that nuclear fuel becomes after it is used in a reactor. It looks exactly like the fuel that was loaded into the reactor -- assemblies of metal rods enclosing stacked-up ceramic pellets. But since nuclear reactions have occurred, the contents aren’t quite the same. Before producing power, the fuel was mostly Uranium (or Thorium), oxygen and steel. Afterwards, many Uranium atoms have split into various isotopes of almost all of the transition metals on your periodic table of the elements.

Thorium

 

• The waste, sometimes called spent fuel, is dangerously radioactive, and remains so for thousands of years. When it first comes out of the reactor, it is so toxic that if you stood within a few meters of it while it was unshielded, you would receive a lethal radioactive dose within a few seconds and would die of acute radiation sickness within a few days. Hence all the worry about it.

Used Nuclear Waste Pool

• In practice, the spent fuel is never unshielded. It is kept underwater (water is an excellent shield) for a few years until the radiation decays to levels that can be shielded by concrete in large storage casks. The final disposal of this spent fuel is a hot topic, and is often an argument against the use of nuclear reactors. Options include deep geologic storage and recycling. The sun would consume it nicely if we could get into space, but since rockets are so unreliable, we can’t afford to risk atmospheric dispersal on lift-off. 

Picture of Reactor Cooling Tower