Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy

How is energy collected from this altenative souce?

Nuclear power is the controlled use of nuclear reactions to release energy for work including propulsion, heat, and the generation of electricity. Human use of nuclear power to do significant useful work is currently limited to nuclear fission and radioactive decay.

What are the advantages of using this energy source?

Nearly 20% of the United States electricity is provided by nuclear reactors. Each separate reactor actually creates more power output than a typical coal plant because the reactors are generally larger.
Nuclear reactors do not burn any fossil fuels so the plants do not give off any emissions or pollution into the air. This is very beneficial because pollution and burning has caused a greenhouse effect that could dramatically affect future generations.

How is this source good for the envionment?

There are actually more benifits of Nuclear Energy than drawbacks.

What are the disadvantages of using this source?

The major drawbacks are the threat of catastrophic failure, and the creation of radioactive waste products. The waste materials from nuclear power geneation are biologically toxic and must be stored, securely, for decades or longer.

What states and countries use this source?


Nuclear energy makes up 80% of France's energy intake. The USA has over 100 power plants and many countries are building more nuclear power plants (like India and China.) Poland is starting on Nuclear energy in 2020.