Nuclear power

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: Nuclear power has zero emissions and can reliably and inexpensively support an electricity grid.
- Pro 2: Nuclear power is a perfect complement to weather-dependent renewable energies.
- Pro 3: Nuclear power protects America’s global national security interests.
Cons
- Con 1: Nuclear power is dangerous, from the risk of meltdowns to the problem of nuclear waste.
- Con 2: Nuclear power is expensive to initiate and delays implementation of truly sustainable and renewable energy sources.
- Con 3: Nuclear power is inextricably linked to lethal nuclear weapons.
Slideshow: Nuclear power plant disasters: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

A nuclear power plant

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Black-and-white photo of Calder Hall nuclear power station in Cumbria, UK, showing two large cooling towers, industrial buildings, and tall smokestacks.

Chernobyl disaster

Four large concrete cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station emit steam behind trees and a river, with power lines crossing overhead in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.

Aerial view of Three Mile Island nuclear power station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with four cooling towers; damaged reactor number two is in the foreground. Steam rises from one tower.

View of the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

Panoramic view of abandoned buildings and overgrown trees in Pripyat, seen from the Polissya Hotel, with smoke rising in the distance under a cloudy sky.

Tourists take a guided tour of the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Nuclear power: Media

Is nuclear power a good form of energy?

Videos

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Discover the facts about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, during World War...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Chernobyl disaster

Chernobyl disaster

The 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant, in Ukraine, was the worst...

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Yurii Zushchyk/stock.adobe.com

Tourists take a guided tour of the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Tourists take a guided tour of the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 resulted in an unknown number of deaths, rampant radiation...

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz

Images

A nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant

Is nuclear power a good form of energy?

© Ttstudio/stock.adobe.com

Chicago Pile-1

Chicago Pile-1

Photograph of an original painting by Gary Sheehan, depicting the moment when scientists...

National Archives and Records Administration (ARC Identifier 542144)

Black-and-white photo of Calder Hall nuclear power station in Cumbria, UK, showing two large cooling towers, industrial buildings, and tall smokestacks.

Nuclear power station

Calder Hall A was the first nuclear reactor used for large-scale commercial power...

Topical Press Agency—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Four large concrete cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station emit steam behind trees and a river, with power lines crossing overhead in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.

Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station

The nuclear power plant is located in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.

© Walter Bibikow-DigitalVision/Getty Images

Aerial view of Three Mile Island nuclear power station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with four cooling towers; damaged reactor number two is in the foreground. Steam rises from one tower.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant suffered a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979.

The damaged reactor number two is in the foreground.

John S. Zeedick—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

View of the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

View of the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

April 29, 1986.

Shone—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Panoramic view of abandoned buildings and overgrown trees in Pripyat, seen from the Polissya Hotel, with smoke rising in the distance under a cloudy sky.

Wide-angle view of Pryp'yat from Polissya Hotel.

Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone of alienation.

©Alessandro Lucca/Dreamstime.com

Side-by-side maps showing the nuclear exclusion zones around Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan. The Chernobyl map displays the original circular 30-kilometer exclusion zone and the present-day irregular exclusion area spanning parts of Ukraine and Belarus. The Fukushima map shows the initial 20-kilometer exclusion circle and current zones with varying restrictions, including difficult-to-return and restricted residence areas, extending inland from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power pl

Map of the nuclear exclusion zones caused by the accidents at Chernobyl, Soviet Union and Fukushima, Japan.

1986 and 2011 nuclear disasters.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski

People are screened for radiation exposure in Koriyama city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

People are screened for radiation exposure in Koriyama city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

March 16, 2011.

Tayama Tatsuyuki—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

No. 4 unit of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

No. 4 unit of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

March 15, 2011.

Shutterstock.com

A rescue worker wearing a helmet and mask stands amid extensive rubble and twisted debris in a destroyed village, with burned buildings in the background.

A rescue worker stands in the rubble of a village destroyed by the devastating earthquake and tsunami (and subsequent fire) that led to the partial meltdown of three of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima (Ōkuma, northeastern Japan).

March 16, 2011

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images