Nuclear Power: A radioactive Waste of Time Essay about disadvantages of nuclear power.

Essay by laeonixHigh School, 12th gradeA+, November 2012

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Nuclear Power: A Radioactive Waste of Time

For many years now, technology has strived to discover alternative energy sources that are cheap, efficient and not harmful to the environment. Nuclear power is one of the alternative energy sources that technology has discovered. There are many views on whether or not it meets the aforementioned criteria, but the major concern when it comes to nuclear power is the safety issue. Is nuclear power safe? There is sufficient evidence to prove that it is very unsafe, including past nuclear power related catastrophes, the by-product of nuclear power, and the fact that nuclear power plants are a vulnerable target for terrorists.

The results were catastrophic; the meltdown released more radioactivity than the atomic bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the disaster, 56 people died and about 600,000 people were exposed to high levels of radiation. The radiation spread to places as far as Scotland. Refer to figure 1.


There are arguments that the Chernobyl meltdown was a result of old technology and mismanagement. Yet, since Chernobyl, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission there have been nearly 200 near misses in the US in which the fuel rods at the core of reactor came close to melting down. Nuclear power gambles with our lives, our health and the environment, an accident at work for someone can end the life of many.

The nuclear waste that comes with nuclear energy is a major concern...