Nuclear power, For or against it? Options

[EmeraldKnight]

What are your opinions on nuclear power?

[EmeraldKnight]

haha yeah, i saw this topic had 0 replies so i thought i'd give it a head start-- plus, this topic interests me

hehe well i'm just glad someone responded since we talked about this in chem today.. anyways.. moving on..

hmmm well see, i have mixed feelings, my opinion is this: if it is gaurunteed to be safe, i'd be for it. but since it isn't, basically i'm against it.

Alright, so you're concerned about safety.. see, the thing is.. the accidents with nuclear powerplants have been so overpublicized, no one realizes how safe current conditions actually are.. and these power plants provide so much more power than do alternate fuel sources or fossil fuels..

From the American Nuclear Society, Feb. 2003:
"Over the past 20 years, the average capacity factor
has increased from about 60 percent to over 90 percent. This increased
capacity translates into an additional 23 000 megawatts
of power on the grid—the equivalent of building 23 new plants.
Nuclear safety has been excellent and there have been substantial
reductions in operating and maintenance costs, worker exposures
to radiation, and quantities of radioactive waste generated. Since
the mid-1970s, nuclear energy has enabled the United States to
avoid emitting over 80 million tons of sulfur dioxide and about 40
million tons of nitrogen oxides.
Nuclear-generated electricity is among the cheapest available
today. The production costs (fuel, operations, and maintenance)
of most nuclear plants are less than 2¢/kWh and the best plants
generate electricity for only about 1¢/kWh."

Therefore, because nuclear power does not pollute like fossil fuels, is far cheaper and far more effcient than other fuels, and as the report states, has been excellent safetywise, why shouldnt we use it?