Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power

All energy sources have drawbacks. For many scientists, hydropower seems the best alternative to fossil fuel. "There are many advantages of hydroelectric power plants, but there are also a number of disadvantages of the hydroelectric power plants. The hydro-electric power plants can be dangerous to aquatic life and can cause many other environmental concerns (Khemani, H., (2011) pg. 1)."

Drawbacks of Hydroelectric Power Plants:

* The dams developed across the rivers can disrupt the aquatic life and lead to their large scale destruction.

* Fishes and other water animals may enter the penstock and ultimately the power generation turbines where they may get crushed.

* The dams can also lead to the disruption of the mating seasons, and mating areas of water animals.

* Due to construction of dams lots of areas have to be cleared that disrupt the plant and animal life.

* The building of dams, power units, and the transformers require large areas of forested areas for their construction; which is hazardous to eco-systems in the forests.

* For the construction of dams, many human beings living in particular areas need to be displaced.

Like hydropower, nuclear energy is another alternative to fossil fuels. "It was chemist Otto Hahn who discovered how to split the atom. Then the physicist Erico Fermi helped the Americans to build the atom bomb. His experiments, however, also proved the possibility of using the splitting of the atom for peaceful purposes, for obtaining energy (Meidenbauer, Dr. J., (2000) pg. 328)." Major advantages of nuclear energy include:

* Nuclear power plants emit far fewer atmospheric pollutants than the competition. They do not emit any sodium dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or dust burning fuel.

* Nuclear power plants do not emit any carbon dioxide, the gas widely believed to be the primary contributor to the greenhouse effect.

* Nuclear power plants only need refueling once every year to 18 months.

* Nuclear power plants use so little fuel; the volume of nuclear waste is much smaller than the volume of waste from fossil fuel power plants. Even though nuclear waste is highly radioactive, its small volume enables safe isolation from society.

* Nuclear power is economically competitive with coal, and generally much cheaper than oil or natural gas.

Nuclear power seems to be a good alternative to fossil fuel; however, nuclear power has some disadvantages worthy of attention:

* Nuclear power plants have dangerously high radioactive