Notes

Nuclear power stands on the verge of humanity's greatest hopes and its deepest fears for the future. On one hand, nuclear power offers us a source of clean energy that liberates us from the shackles of fossil fuel dependence. On the other, it offers us nightmare scenarios such as the Fukushima, Chernobyl and not to forget the Three Mile Island disaster, which are only 3 of 33 serious nuclear power plant incidents (guardian,2011). According to the World Nuclear Association there are currently 437 operable civil nuclear power reactors around the world, with a further 71 under construction (WNA,2014). The average construction time of a nuclear reactor takes about 10 years and costs approximately $15 billion each (cnn,2013). This cost does not include the negative costs brought along with nuclear power such as uranium mining and its transportation, waste disposal and hazards related to radioactive materials, impact on wildlife and the ecology, and many more which we cannot fully understand yet for example higher incidents of breast cancer and leukemia among women and children living near nuclear power plants (USNCI,1991). A 2003 MIT study concluded that more than two new reactors would have to start operating somewhere in the world every month over the next 50 years to displace a significant amount of carbon-emitting fossil-fuel generation, thats 240 nuclear power plants every 10 years. Even if nuclear power fulfills our dream of a fossil free world and brings down global warming to sustainable standards are we willing to accept these unknown costs that come along when dealing with nuclear power.