NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EMISSIONS

Nuclear power plant emissions

Table of content

Introduction1

Discussion2

Conclusion5

Reference7

Bibliography8

Nuclear power plant emissions

Introduction

For decades, nuclear power was planned as an environmentally harmful. But climate change is becoming Top environmental problem in the world; the nuclear industry is now starting to use the reputation of a green electricity supplier, capable of producing large amounts of energy with virtually no carbon emissions1. Due to this, the industry is getting renewed support. In the United States, both presidential candidates view nuclear energy as part of the future energy mix. The U.S. government is not alone in its support for the expansion of nuclear facilities. Japan announced in August that it would spend $ 4 billion in "green" technologies, including nuclear (Kragh, 2008, 200).

But despite the enthusiasm about the status of nuclear energy as low-carbon technologies, emissions of greenhouse gases in the nuclear energy are still being discussed. While it is understandable that the operating nuclear power plant has almost zero emissions of carbon (only outputs of the warm and radioactive waste), then the other steps involved in providing nuclear energy, which can increase its carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear power stations should be built, uranium must be mined, processing and transportation, the waste must be stored, and eventually the plant must be decommissioned. All these activities generate carbon.

Discussion

Nuclear energy was presented as providing net environmental benefit. In particular, nuclear energy does not contribute to global warming through carbon dioxide emissions. Some fossil fuel-based emission can be limited or controlled by the equipment for pollution control or a procedure that generally increase the cost of construction or management of power plant or a factory owner or the public (Sovacool, 2008, 30). There are restrictions on the disposal of such wastes. Restrictions are imposed through legislation, regulation and liabilities of the plant owners / operators. From the standpoint of the public such restrictions constitute collective measures of value and cost of each type of radiation. The rule does not represent the values that each individual places on the emissions that opinions will vary on the adequacy of a policy of emissions.

Restrictions usually vary depending on the type of waste. Since waste plants vary depending on the fuel, the potential environmental controls, therefore, depend on the type of power plant. There are also differences in the desired level of control over some of the emissions of nuclear power plants (Sovacool, 2008, 41). For example, the coolant water discharge may affect the temperature regime in the neighboring waters. Such faults change the ecology of these waters, and it becomes a matter of policy, whether the change is negative, that is important. The answer to these questions will determine what controls will be needed and costs associated with the disposal of the coolant water. Permitted levels of performance rules do not vary by jurisdiction. It is traditionally not very clean. Waste plant is toxic for many centuries, and there is no safe way to keep it forever, or dispose of it. Transportation of nuclear fuel can also be risky ...