Nuclear sustainability is one of the many topics of environmental protection that is being discussed today. One might ask what nuclear sustainability is exactly. Sustainability is the goal of a practice or method that provides some sort of service without causing harm to the environment in the long run.
There is enough nuclear fuel dispersed, whether it's the 3.851 million metric tons that we know of or the 11 million metric tons still out there, around the world at this time to last 200 years. 40 times that if the plans and production of breeder reactors are completed and switched on. The breeder reactors convert used fuels from nuclear reactors and convert them into reusable fuels.
There are few minor environmental problems with nuclear power. There are very low particle emissions from reactors and the only major threat are thermal emissions. These can be easily avoided with the addition of a closed loop cooling system. Nuclear is one of the choices that we can make to keep this planet going, even if for just a little longer.
Chris Grothe
York College of Pennsylvania
Leave a comment