Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power

Generation

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 Pros
 Nuclear fuel inexpensive, more abundant than fossil
fuels, easy to transport.

 Energy generated is efficient & remaining waste is

compact.

 Nuclear reactor need little fuel & must only be changed

approximately once three years.

 The amount of waste produced is billions of time

smaller that the volume of waste produced from a coal
burning plant.
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 Pros (Cont…)
 Nuclear reactors are safe in comparison to fossil
fuel methods.
 Each year about 50,000 people die due to
respiratory illnesses in America caused by
burning of coal.
 The chance of nuclear accident that
would cause that kind of damage to human life is
1 in every 250 years.

 Clean source of energy, it does not contribute to

the green house effect or to acid rain.
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 Cons
 Even though cost of fuel is low, the actual cost of
producing energy is higher than other forms of
energy because of emergency, containment and
radioactive waste storage system.

 High level radioactive waste must be stored in

underground containment permanently.
 It must remain deep below the surface of
earth for millions of years until it looses its
radioactivity.
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 Cons (Cont….)
 Uranium and thorium are mostly used as fuel in
nuclear reactors.
 The mining of uranium itself can cause serious
problems in the environment and to the people living
near the mining site.

 During mining large amounts of air contaminated with

radon and dust are blown into the open air which
increases the level of radon concentrations.
 The incident of lungs cancer increases in these areas.
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 Cons (Cont….)
 Ground water from mines contaminates
rivers and lakes.
 The meltdown of reactor not only cause
severe immediate danger,
 it can also contaminate the area for years
after the disaster.
 Increased incidences of thyroid cancer
along with numerous other serious health
problems accompany a nuclear melt down.
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 Cons (Cont….)
 Crops grown in the area can contain high levels of
radioactive elements and fish population in
nearby lakes cannot regenerate.

 It is evenly hypothesized that a properly

functioning reactor can toxic levels of
radioactivity to the population in the surrounding
area.

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 Economics of a Nuclear Power
 Nuclear power is cost competitive with other
forms of electricity generation, except in regions
where there is direct access to low cost fossil
fuels.
 The decreasing cost of fossil fuels in the past
decade has eroded nuclear power previous cost
advantage in many countries.
 Fuel cost for nuclear plants are a minor
proportion of total generating costs and often
about one third those for coal fired plants.
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 Economics of a Nuclear Power (Cont…)
 In assessing the cost competitiveness of nuclear
energy, decommissioning and waste disposal
costs are taken into account.
 The relative cost of generating electricity from
coal, gas and nuclear plants vary considerably
depending on location.
 Coal is and will probably remain
economically attractive in countries such as India,
China, USA & Australia with abundant and
accessible domestic coal resources.

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Economics of a Nuclear Power (Cont…)
 Gas is also competitive in many places
particularly with combined cycle plants.
 Nuclear Energy is, in many places
competitive with fossil fuels for electricity
generation,
 Despite relatively high capital cost and
need to internalize all waste disposal and
decommissioning costs.
 If the social, health and environmental cost of
fossil fuels are also taken into account, nuclear is
outstanding.
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 Economics of a Nuclear Power (Cont…)
Type Cents/KWh Remarks

Nuclear 0.4

Hydro 0.5 Same as Nuclear

Coal 4.1-7.3

Gas 1.3-2.3

Wind 0.1-0.2 Better than

Nuclear

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 Selection of Site for Nuclear Power Plants
 Availability of Water:
• NPP requires ample amount of water for cooling
and steam generation.
Disposal of Waste:
• Extra care is needed to dispose dangerous
waste/residue of nuclear substance.
• The storage of waste which is to be disposed
deep under the ground in sea so that radioactive
effect is eliminated.

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 Selection of Site for Nuclear Power
Plants(Cont…)

Away from Populated Area:

• Although there is always tight safety, but still
there are chances of radioactive radiation,
which affects the health of people.
• Therefore, must be away from populated area.

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 Selection of Site for Nuclear Power Plants
(Cont….)

Nearest to the load centers:

• Transportation and storage requirements are
less compared to coal fired plants.

• So it is preferred to construct the NPP near

the load centers so that transportation of
energy at minimum cost can be achieved.

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 Selection of Site for Nuclear Power Plants
(Cont….)
 Other Factors:
• Accessibility to the road and rail are general
consideration of almost all power plants
because
o Heavy equipments are to be transported to
the sites during construction
o Fuels are also required to transport from
mines during the operation.

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