Nuclear Power Plants Are Good for the Environment
Nuclear power plants are good for the environment. Nuclear plants don't pollute the air. They don't produce any carbon dioxide or any sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. The small amount of waste that a nuclear plant produces is carefully contained and safely stored. Radiation levels are checked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most nuclear plants have a nature park or wildlife sanctuary, too.
Potential hazards to those living near the plant?
Using nuclear power generates radioactive waste which will be radioactive for thousands and thousands of years. This waste must be stored in a safe place so that humans and other living things are not exposed to the dangerous radiation.
Waste disposal issues:
Nuclear power plants generate two types of waste: high-level and low level. it must be cooled for several years in deep pools inside the plant or in special storage facilities outside of the plant site. It can remain in the pool or later be transferred to special cask, which are like big concrete barrels. Low level waste can come from nuclear reactors or hospitals or universities. Low level waste is not as dangerous as high level waste. It can be shipped to low level waste disposal facilities. There, it is package, buried in trenches and covered with soil. States are responsible for selecting new disposal sites or using the ones that already exist.
