Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power Plants

As far as positives go, nuclear power's biggest advantages are tied to the simple fact that it doesn't depend on fossil fuels. Coal and natural gas power plants emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. With nuclear power plants, CO2­ emissions are minimal.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the power produced by the world's nuclear plants would normally produce 2 billon metric tons of CO2 per year if they depended on fossil fuels. In fact, a properly functioning nuclear power plant actually releases less radioactivity into the atmosphere than a coal-fired power plant [source: Hvistendahl]. By not depending on fossil fuels, the cost of nuclear power also isn't affected by fluctuations in oil and gas prices.

As for negatives, nuclear fuel may not produce CO2, but it does provide its share of problems. Historically, mining and purifying uranium hasn't been a very clean process. Even transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants poses a contamination risk. And once the fuel is spent, you can't just throw it in the city dump. It's still radioactive and potentially deadly.

On average, a nuclear power plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel, classified as high-level radioactive waste. When you take into account every nuclear plant on Earth, the combined total climbs to roughly 2,000 metric tons yearly [source: NEI]. All of this waste emits radiation and heat, meaning that it will eventually corrode any container and can prove lethal to nearby life forms. As if this weren't bad enough, nuclear power plants produce a great deal of low-level radioactive waste in the form of radiated parts and equipment.

Eventually spent nuclear fuel will decay to safe radioactive levels, but it takes tens of thousands of years. Even low-level radioactive waste requires centuries to reach acceptable levels. Currently, the nuclear industry lets waste cool for years before mixing it with glass and storing it in massive cooled, concrete structures. In the future, much of this waste may be transported deep underground. In the meantime, however, this waste has to be maintained, monitored and guarded to prevent the materials from falling into the wrong hands. All of these services and added materials cost money -- on top of the high costs required to build a plant.

Nuclear waste can pose a problem, and it's the result of properly functioning nuclear power plants. When something goes wrong, the situation can turn catastrophic. The Chernobyl disaster is a good recent example. In 1986, the Ukrainian nuclear reactor exploded, spewing 50 tons of radioactive material into the surrounding area, contaminating millions of acres of forest. The disaster forced the evacuation of at least 30,000 people, and eventually caused thousands to die from cancer and other illnesses [source: History Channel].

Chernobyl was poorly designed and improperly operated. While the plant required constant human attention to keep the reactor from malfunctioning, modern plants require constant supervision to keep from shutting down. Still, Chernobyl is a black eye for the nuclear power industry, often overshadowing some of the environmental advantages the technology has to offer.

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Nuclear Disaster so far:

Three Mile Island, March 28 1979
Palomares Incident, January 17 1966
Chernobyl, April 26 1986
Thule Accident, January 21 1968
Windscale Fire, October 10 1957
Goiania Accident, September 13 1987
Tomsk-7 Explosion, April 6 1993
K-431 Chazhma Bay, August 10 1985
Tokaimura Nuclear Accident, September 30 1999
Yucca Flat, December 18 1970

Malaysian Government rather the UMNO big shots are good at building mega projects. Why? Because they can inflate the cost and stash 1/2 of it into their swiss account. Money for all these mega penis are from EPF and Petronas. In other words PEOPLE'S MONEY. Since Mahathir took over as Prime Minister, every God Damn Projects like Perwaja, Kedah Cement, Bakun Dam, All the F1...Fuck....Hicom, Proton and Putrajaya the valley of the dead, have failed and we the people are make to suffer and paid for his selfishness and greed.

Today we are lump with the like of Najib and Rosmah who work hand in hand to further drown us in debts. Malaysia today has zero money. We cannot service our loans taken from World Bank, Brunei and Saudi so what does the Government do, they sell our land and share our oil rigs with them in exchange for time hoping that future earnings could settle the debts. Najib has lelong our country till 2023.

Building Nuclear Power Plants is not a game that the ruling Government can afford to play with our lives, unless they are committed with passion, sincerity and love for the country In this case operation, maintenance and service must be first class. Nuclear Power Plant is not like the smart tunnel where you can simply close it for two weeks every month and have an engineer with a salary of RM2,000 and an illegal migrant salary of RM800 walk one end to another sharing dirty jokes and the company collecting RM30 million per year for maintenance.

Malaysian Government have short span of doing anything sincere. The minute the commission is paid into their accounts they will create and think of another project. To them the more projects are announce the faster the money for them comes in.

I am for Nuclear Power Plant but UMNO and BN Government is not the right party to do so.