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[[image:http://i.imgur.com/perXz.jpg width="401" height="269"]]toc Zach and Graham
As of March 1, 2011, there were 443 currently operating nuclear reactors in 47 countries around the world. Nuclear power provides 16% of the world's electricity. It's a popular source of energy that has a number of benefits and drawbacks associated with it.

=How It Works = Just like a conventional coal power plant, nuclear power plants produce energy by heating water into steam and turning a turbine. The difference is in how the heat is produced: nuclear reactors produce heat through nuclear fission, while coal reactors produce heat by burning coal.

In fission, the nuclei of uranium atoms contained in fuel rods are split, which releases energy according to the equation E = mc^2. In the process of splitting nuclei, neutrons are emitted from the nuclei, which split other nuclei, causing a chain reaction. The entire process is controlled by metal control rods which absorb neutrons. They are inserted or retracted in order to control the amount of free neutrons and the amount of fission taking place.

Water surrounding the fuel rods serves multiple purposes. It slows down neutrons in order to make fission more frequent, it cools down the reaction, and it is vaporized into steam, which turns turbines in order to produce electricity. media type="youtube" key="VJfIbBDR3e8" height="360" width="640"

=Safety = There are many risks involved with producing power through fission. However, reactors are designed with these risks in mind, and there are numerous safeguards to prevent danger. In the entire history of nuclear power, more than 14,500 hours of operation of nuclear power plants, there have only been 3 major accidents: 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. Chernobyl is the only reactor accident ever to expose anyone to harmful levels of radiation.

In the case of 3 Mile Island, the reactor's safety mechanisms functioned and contained the accident. Chernobyl was badly designed, as its safety mechanisms were completely inadequate and weren't able to contain the accident (which was caused by gross human error). The Fukushima accident was caused by a massive magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami, as well as numerous aftershocks. The reactor was designed to withstand very large earthquakes, but the earthquake and tsunami were even worse than the reactor was designed to withstand. However, the disaster caused no radiation sickness or deaths, but large-scale evacuations were required.

Statistically, nuclear power is much, much safer than any other form of energy, especially coal power but even "safe" sources of energy such as hydroelectric power.

Even in the worst case scenario, it would be impossible for an out-of-control reactor to explode like a nuclear bomb, because the fuel rods aren't enriched enough to create an explosion.

Terrorism is a frequently raised safety concern. Of all infrastructure, nuclear reactors are the most able to withstand terrorist attacks. Testing has shown that a 747 flown directly into a nuclear reactor would cause no damage to the reactor itself.

=Short Term Benefits and Drawbacks =

Benefits

 * Just one uranium fuel pellet – about the size of the tip of your pinky – contains the same amount of energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal or 149 gallons of oil . Nuclear energy has the highest ratio of material to energy output, which means that it is one of the most efficient forms of generating electricity. Additionally, since this much power can be produced from such a small amount of fissile material, the environmental impact per amount of fuel is much lower than fossil fuels.
 * The technology to generate massive amounts of power is here now and can be built at any time. Nuclear technology is well researched, well understood, and is able to be build immediately for the production of power. Nuclear power is therefore a better investment than experimental alternative power sources which wouldn't be as well researched or as readily available.

Drawbacks
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 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">A nuclear power plant costs between 3 and 5 billion dollars just to construct, which doesn't even account for operating costs. A nuclear power plant is one of the most expensive plants to build and requires a heavy upfront investment which is off-putting to some. In addition, each reloading of the reactor costs about 40 million dollars and has to be carried out every 18 months . The high initial cost and the continued high operational costs make nuclear power plants very expensive to run in both the short term and long term.
 * Despite the very small risk of it happening, a nuclear power plant can experience a meltdown and has the potential to harm if an accident were to ever occur. Especially in areas where natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, and tornadoes are common, it is extremely risky to build a nuclear power plant since a disaster could wipe out a facility's safety systems and cause a partial or full meltdown like in Fukushima, Japan. Despite the extremely low accident rate and only having three major incidents at nuclear power plants in the past 60 years, accidents can still happen which would have the potential of releasing unknown quantities of radiation into the atmosphere and potentially harming untold numbers of people

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Long Term Benefits and Drawbacks =

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 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Nuclear energy production produces zero greenhouse gas emissions, which means that compared to other methods of generating power, including coal and natural gas, there is no direct atmospheric impact from the use of nuclear energy. In the longrun, using nuclear power versus other fossil fuel based types of power generation will cut countless tons of CO2 emissions and help lessen the human impact on global climate change. Each year, the amount of CO2 prevented from going into the atmosphere by generation from America's 104 nuclear power plants is equivalent to taking all of the passenger cars in America off the road.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">[[image:http://i.imgur.com/3SKeW.jpg width="417" height="305" align="right"]]
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Nuclear energy is the most reliable form of emission-free electrical generation since it doesn't rely on uncontrolled natural phenomena (wind, sunlight, etc.) to produce electricity  . In terms of electrical output per square mile of land occupied, one nuclear power plant can produce the same amount of power in less than one square mile of contained land as over 60 square miles of photovoltaic panels, and anywhere from 15 to over 180 square miles of wind turbines . Nuclear power is therefore not only the most logical choice in terms of land usage, but also in terms of reliable energy production.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Drawbacks

 * Spent nuclear fuel has to be left to decompose for 10,000 years before it becomes safe to handle again . Since spent nuclear waste can only become safe with time and not by any other means, it has to be stored away in safe and secure locations for at least 10,000 years. These spent fuel sites, such as Yucca Mountain in Nevada, are a hazard to future inhabitants of this planet and risk catastrophic damage to the environment and society if a breach were ever to occur.
 * Spent nuclear fuel will continue to emit radiation for thousands of years and could be weaponized if placed in the wrong hands. Nuclear storage sites would become a key target for terrorist activity for its entire active lifetime since at any given point if the stored radioactive material was released it would cause tremendous damage with very little effort. Therefore, using nuclear power means the nation that used the uranium has to then commit to protecting the extremely hazardous material at all costs for thousands of years past the time that it was beneficial to them. Indeed spent fuel is a lingering problem that will far out-survive the current generation of nuclear power plant technology.