Pros
Nuclear energy has many advantages. It is at the center of the energy policy of many countries due to its significant advantages in terms of environment, society, and economy. Nuclear energy has a key role in meeting energy needs, especially in economically developed countries. For example, France, one of the largest economies in the world, meets approximately 70% of its energy needs from nuclear energy. Similarly, there are 60 nuclear power plants in the USA, the world's largest economy. Nuclear energy use is also widespread in other major economies such as Japan, China, and Russia. (Akyüz, 2023).
- The main purpose of this section is to discuss the advantages of nuclear energy in terms of environment, public health, and economy.
- The
advantages of nuclear energy discussed in this section are as
follows; (1) the long operating lifetime of nuclear power
plants, (2) low
greenhouse gas emissions caused by nuclear power plants, (3) nuclear
power plants do not release pollutants into the air, (4) high
efficiency from nuclear energy,(5) nuclear energy power plants
provide energy security, (6) nuclear energy contributes to the
increase in employment by creating job opportunities at the regional
level, (7) requires a low level of land use, and (8) contributes to
reducing foreign dependency on energy.(Lifsher, 2013) Every
physical place built by humans in nature has a lifespan in the
world. All energy power plants established for the purpose of
obtaining energy also have a lifetime. The service life of power
plants varies according to the type of power plants. The type of
power plant with the longest usage period is the hydroelectric power
plant. The average lifetime of hydroelectric power plants built on
the river and used only for electricity generation is 80 years.
After hydroelectric power plants, the type of power plant with the
longest lifetime is the nuclear power plant. With today's
technology, the average usage time of nuclear power plants is 60
years. (“Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy”, 2023)