Advantages of Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is being pitched as an apt replacement for the age-old fossil fuels, and this success of nuclear power can be attributed to various advantages that it has over the other sources of energy. As of today, nuclear power constitutes for about 16 percent of the total power generation in the world. Several countries, such as Japan and France, have acknowledged the prominent advantages of nuclear power and resorted to it. For example, more than 75 percent of power generation in France can be attributed to nuclear energy. Other countries are expected to follow the suit soon, as their evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants is in progress.

Nuclear Power Overview

Nuclear power is the power generated by nuclear reaction in the controlled environment within the huge nuclear reactors. In these reactors, radioactive elements are used as fuel to heat water to such an extent that the steam created by it rotates the turbines and produces electricity. The radioactive elements used in nuclear power plants include uranium, thorium and plutonium. The atoms of these radioactive elements are allowed to split in a process referred to as nuclear fission. This splitting of atoms produces copious amount of energy which is used to heat water and produce steam. Estimates suggest that the use of nuclear power to generate electricity for civilian use has the capacity to solve power crisis of the entire world.

Advantages of Nuclear Power Plants

Less polluting than coal and petroleum, more efficient than solar and wind energy! Nuclear power has an edge over the conventional as well as alternative energy sources. Basically, the numerous nuclear power advantages can be categorized into two groups - environmental advantages and economic advantages. Given below are the details about each of these groups.

Environmental Advantages of Nuclear Power
One of the foremost advantages of nuclear power generation over fossil fuels is that it is not polluting like the later. The creation of nuclear energy doesn't contribute to environmental issues such as global warming as it doesn't release carbon dioxide in the atmosphere like the fossil fuels do. More importantly, fossil fuels reserves across the world are bound to get exhausted at some or the other point of time. Going by the alarming rate at which we are using them, it is predicted that, the coal and oil deposits across the world are expected to finish by end of this century. On the other hand, the uranium deposits on the planet are to continue for a long time, and even if they end alternative sources in form of plutonium and thorium also exist.

Economic Advantages of Nuclear Power
Among the various advantages of nuclear energy, its efficiency is by far the most important. The amount of energy produced by a single ton of uranium far exceeds the amount of energy produced by burning million tons of coal. Even though the initial investment incurred on building nuclear power plants is quite high, the returns are also quite significant. The nuclear power plants built today are built with keeping safety and efficiency in mind. With time the technology used in these plants is also making progress, which in turn contributes to their efficiency. Yet another economic benefit of nuclear power is the fact that it is very easy to transport.

Both, the disadvantages and advantages of nuclear power plants have to be taken into consideration when determining whether this source of energy is efficient for development of power or not. While the critics of nuclear energy have been citing the various nuclear power plant disasters that have occurred in the past as one of the main reason for refraining from use of nuclear energy, its proponents are confident that it has the ability to sustain the energy requirements of the entire world, in a safe manner.