Question

Do you think nuclear power should be an important part of our energy supply? How much does it matter that it is intrinsically cheaper than solar, oil, coal? What other considerations matter?

Poorer countries may use a dangerous or polluting form of energy because it is cheaper or more readily available. One thing you may not know is that the US is bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to help non-nuclear weapons countries build their domestic (i.e. non-military) nuclear energy programs. Consider a country without the funds to build solar or wind power infrastructure: do your answers for the questions above change for that country?

How many fatalities are caused by coal (mining, pollution, etc) annually (in the world)? Can/do people die from NOT having energy? How?

Answer 1

Nuclear power can produce a large amount of energy with a great efficiency rate with around zero carbon emissions. This also does not produce any greenhouse gas which damages our environment. The world saves around billions of dollars each year for energy costs because of nuclear power. It is now becoming a good competitor to solar energy and coal.

But also, there is a huge quantity of waste which formed due to the nuclear reactions. These waste can damage the environment very harshly. There is also a negative perception associated with the nuclear plants and nuclear weapons, so expansive growth of nuclear energy is difficult to accomplish.

Although the fuel cost to produce power using nuclear energy is relatively low, there is still necessity of having highly skilled workers to build and maintain the operations to ensure the safety of the plant.

Since nuclear energy is our future, energy country should take a step ahead and make a use of it.