Nuclear: Is it worth it?

A little background. This week, our public speaking teacher assigned us topics, and mine was if Nuclear should be used for commercial energy. this was my talk:

When I heard the question, my first reaction was that it should not be used for power, because of the first atomic bombs and how nuclear plants can go desperately wrong.  But as I started to research, I saw some facts that said that more people die putting up solar panels on someone’s roof than die in a nuclear accident. So I am going to tell you some pros and cons of nuclear.

Pros first. Nuclear produces far less greenhouse gases, which cause global warming, than burning coal or natural gas does. Plus, coal and oil are not replacing themselves, like wind or solar. Nuclear does not have a renewable element, but there is a material that can be used that is widely spread and cheap. It is also comparatively inexpensive, 2ish trillion to set up, but wait, wind is ten times that amount, and nuclear is less money to keep it going. We also have ready technology up front, and we are able to use a large plant to produce a large amount of power, instead of having to have many small plants. Also, we are able to reduce the waste and then bury it.

Now the Cons. Plants can be expensive to build because of large containment programs and automatic shut downs. That money could be used to build renewable energy sources. (Basically, the government needs to make up its mind.) There are risks if the containments fail. There can be very long construction times, and they could be a target for terrorism, as the radiation could spread. The sources for the plants are finite, and are expensive to mine, refine, and transport, and the radioactive waste can last for two to five hundred thousand years. There are very few places where we can put that radioactive waste, and we cannot send it abroad as that could be yet another source for terrorism.

All in all, I think that while Nuclear is a better option then coal or Natural gases and oil, it can be risky and expensive, and that solar or wind would be a better option, even if it is more expensive. we not only have to think about the safety of the planet but also about the safety of us.