What is a Nuclear Power Plant? What are Nuclear Power Plant Benefits and Harms?

Like all other thermal power plants, electricity is produced in nuclear power plants by the evaporation of the heated water and the rotation of the turbines of the water vapor in the nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants are used as base load power plants because the fuels of nuclear power plants are cheap and stopping and restarting is a very difficult and long process.

What are the Harms of Nuclear Power Plants?

The benefits and harms of nuclear power plants are controversial issues. What are the harms of nuclear power plants from the point of view? The answer to the question changes. Although there have been no serious accidents except for the accidents at Three Mile Island (USA) in 1979, Chernobyl (Soviet Union) in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, especially the concerns triggered by these accidents have made nuclear power plants controversial.

The harms of nuclear energy are stated by opponents of nuclear energy as follows:

1.Nuclear waste problem: The wastes of nuclear reactors do not disappear for hundreds or even thousands of years. From the past to the present, the wastes of spent nuclear fuels are still stored in temporary storage facilities. No solution has yet been developed for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

2.Nuclear weapons: Yellow cake, which is in the process of uranium enrichment, can easily turn into a weapon powerful enough to destroy civilization, even if it is developed for peaceful purposes.

3.National security: Nuclear power facilities can cause massive explosions and disasters as a result of terrorist attacks.

4.Nuclear accidents: Although there have been only 3 nuclear power plant accidents in history, the consequences of these accidents can be huge and long-lasting. Although only 30 people living in the power plant were affected in the Chernobyl accident in 1986, radiation spread, which affected the whole Europe, occurred in a short time. It is not so important that nuclear accidents are rare. Even a single major nuclear power plant accident can threaten millions of people.

5. Cancer risk: Researches show that people living in areas close to nuclear power plants have a high risk of cancer as a result of a possible accident, and that those who work at the power plant are constantly exposed to higher than normal levels of radiation, increasing the cancer risk of these people.

What are the Nuclear Power Plant Benefits?

Although the benefits of nuclear power plants vary according to the point of view, the most important benefit of nuclear power plants is that they are very high-capacity base load power plants and that their fuel is very cheap, although it is economically controversial, their long-term operation.

And also:

·           Clean energy source: Nuclear power plants that produce zero carbon electricity are considered environmentally friendly as they do not emit carbon.

·           Reliable energy source: Nuclear power plants used as base load power plants produce electricity almost all the time and meet the electricity needs to a significant extent.

·           Inexpensive electricity generation: Although the construction cost of nuclear power plants is quite high, the fuel cost is quite low.

·           High energy density: The energy produced by nuclear fission is 10 million times more than the energy produced by burning fossil fuels.

How Safe Are Nuclear Power Plants?

Nuclear power plants are the least polluting energy production method among non-renewable energy sources. Nuclear power plants do not emit carbon, do not harm the ozone layer. However, the following should be considered in the installation of a nuclear power plant against possible accident and leakage risks:

·         The power plant is not located in the earthquake zone.

·         The power plant is not located very close to the urban residential area.

·         Proper protection of nuclear waste.

·         Constructing the power plant in areas that are not suitable for settlement such as sea, desert, mountain.

Do Nuclear Power Plants Emit Radiation?

Nuclear power plants emit a very low amount of radiation when all necessary regulations and inspections are made. A regularly operating nuclear power plant emits only 1% of the natural radiation rate of its environment.

How Far Should You Live From Nuclear Power Plants?

How far away from nuclear power plants should be lived is directly related to the size of the power plant. According to the nuclear energy impact study carried out in Germany, the rate of leukemia in children living in a 5 km radius area drawn centered on a nuclear power plant is 2.2 times higher than in other regions.

Distance may be less important in cases such as leaks in nuclear power plants, because nuclear fallout can even be carried overseas by wind. Cancer-related deaths in Hopa district of Artvin, which was affected by the Chernobyl disaster, constitute 46% of all deaths.

Are Nuclear Plant Workers Exposed to Radiation?

Nuclear power plant employees are not exposed to a level of radiation that would endanger human health under normal conditions. According to medical procedure, radiation up to 53 mrem per year is tolerable by the human body as natural background radiation. People living up to 80 km from a nuclear power plant are exposed to 0.01 mrem of radiation due to this power plant.

How to Install a Nuclear Power Plant?

The area where the nuclear power plant will be established should be as far from urban settlement and agricultural land as possible. Geographies that are not suitable for human habitation such as sea, mountain and desert should be preferred. Countries often set up nuclear power plants close to border areas in order to be less affected by nuclear fallout in the event of a potential leak or accident.

Where Was The First Nuclear Power Plant Established? Who is the first Nuclear Power Plant Architect?

The first Nuclear Power Plant, the Chicago Pile 1 reactor, was established in 1942 by Nobel Prize winner Enrico Ferni, under the Stagg Field Football Field at the University of Chicago in Chicago, United States.