Environmental Issues
Life cycle analysis (LCA) of carbon dioxide emissions show nuclear power as comparable to renewable energy sources. Emissions from burning fossil fuels are many times higher.
According to the United Nations (UNSCEAR), regular nuclear power plant operation including the nuclear fuel cycle causes radioisotope releases into the environment amounting to 0.0002 mSv (milli-Sievert) per year of public exposure as a global average. (Such is small compared to variation in natural background radiation, which averages 2.4 mSv/yr globally but frequently varies between 1 mSv/yr and 13 mSv/yr depending on a person's location as determined by UNSCEAR). As of a 2008 report, the remaining legacy of the worst nuclear power plant accident (Chernobyl) is 0.002 mSv/yr in global average exposure (a figure which was 0.04 mSv per person averaged over the entire populace of the Northern Hemisphere in the year of the accident in 1986, although far higher among the most affected local populations and recovery workers).
Read more about this topic: Nuclear Power
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“Cynicism formulates issues clearly, but only to dismiss them.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)