Nuclear Energy. Bearable or Terrible?

The main talk about the many ways to reduce the effect citizens and power plants have on global warming is Nuclear Energy. Nuclear energy utilizes the shemical "Uranium" which is and enhances radioactive materials. Now the government are planning to follow through with the nuclear power plant development around the globe to reduce the effect of pollution and global warming. I think it's strange how good they are at making it sound like a good idea; how everyone should comply with it and understand that it's for a better cause and also to save the Earth. But why don't people stop and think about the negative effect these plants peoduce if made. It's a terrible idea and one of the worst the government ever thought up. But will they follow through and save the planet? Or place it in peril? Do the pro's outweigh the cons? or is the government simply blinded by the main problem?


LINK TO ORIGINAL SITE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080904141.html

My Proposition and where I stand:

It's a hell of a bad idea.  Excuse me for the language. There are many pro's and cons of Nuclear energy but the con's in my opinion will definitely outweigh the pros on any scale you could find. The Nuclear waste that is produced by the main plant is radioactive and remains active for 10,000 years after made (according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards). Yet they're still planning to go through with the idea.

It has some definite pros, mind you. Uranium is a VERY efficient energy source. 1 ton of Uranium can produce the same amount of energy as 16,000 TONS of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil (One barrel of oil is equal to 158.987295 liters. Multiply that by 80,000 and you get 12,718,983.6 liters, or 4491 tons. I just saved you a whole lot of googling.) Yes. In other words, that's alot of energy. Also, the carbon dioxide output of the power plant is relatively low. So the contribution of it to the global warming problem is not a lot and will not affect the planet as much pollution wise. Plus these power plants don't need alot of fuel to power so when there's a worldwide blackout or something,  and Uranium is almost equally deposited around the globe so there's no shortage of it. And that's it. Those are all the pros these things produce.

Here we go. Radioactive waste is a problem in itself. And that problem hasn't even been solved yet and according to the USPCA, the radioactive waste needs to be really carefully guarded for 10,000 years. Nuclear waste is included in the manufacturing of atomic bombs so if some crazy terrorist comes and gets their hands on the waste, it would be the start of World War 3. And speaking of terrorists, Nuclear power plants are prime real estate for terrorist attacks. If the building explodes somehow whether it's a terrorist attack or a machinery malfunction, a failure, or an accident, it would have apocalyptyic effects on the world. Also, someone who understands the basic knowledge of a nuclear power plant and has access to the materials could make an atomic bomb and prehaps threaten the government for billions of money. The temptation is large and niceness isn't what you'd find on the streets these days.

Uranium is scarce and is rarely found around the world. Obtaining the Uranium is risking your life. You could turn into some sort of mutant or something. The mining process of obtaining uranium is very complicated and has many procedures which must be followed. After they mine the uranium from it's area, they must take care of the radioactive residue from the mining site and that could cause hazardous effects if it was exposed to the public. Even so, scientists believe at the rate of excavations of uranium, they perdict that uranium will survive on our planet for 30-60 years before it becomes extinct to our planet and universe. So uranium isn't exactly a sustainable resource for our energy needs.

So simply put, Nuclear power plants should be eradicated from the world and it not only is a problem, it produces millions of other problems that could threaten the existance of mankind. We have to look at the truth and understand the consequences that will come if we follow through with the development of nuclear power plants.