Image via WikipediaEven our Prime Minister tells us that nuclear power projects do not cause pollution. The fact is that radiation, resulting from the "burning"of uranium fuel is much more deadly than carbon dioxide or fly ash coming from the conventional thermal power station.
Plutonium formed as a result of using uranium as fuel, is so deadly that a milligram of it, if dropped on land, will render the surroundings wasted for thousands of years to come. Under certain conditions, accumulation of plutonium may cause an explosion. It is very difficult to remove spent fuel from the atomic reactors and to store it. This is being done through special trains.
The problem of dismantling the reactors has not been solved yet. Every part of it has to be decontaminated. The cost of dismantling, decontamination, etc, is still not estimated.
After the blast at Chernobyl in Russia, a country in Europe (I don't remember the name) decided to abandon a newly constructed reactor. If all the reactors in the world are dumped in the sea, nothing will survive there.
URANIUM ENRICHMENT
Naturally occurring uranium is harmless, as the radio active isotope is only a small percent of the ore. For use in the nuclear reactors, the active ingredient has to be in concentrated form. This is called enriched uranium, which is harmful.
As the number of reactors in all Nuclear Power Plants all over the world, especially in rich countries, is very high, this will be a very big problem for future generations. There should be a ban on construction of new reactors.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kk_Subramanian
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