Title of paper

4. Other facts to be considered

There are more reasons pointing towards the fact that nuclear power is not an acceptable option. The nuclear accidents of Three Mile Island (Pennsylvania) in March 1979, Chernobyl (Ukraine) in April 1986, and Fukushima Daichi (Japan) in March 2011, just to name the most sincere nuclear disasters, must serve as a lesson to humankind realising that nuclear power is an uncontrollable technology. As a result of the Fukushima disaster, some nuclear power programmes around the world were cancelled. Germany for instance plans to phase out nuclear power by 2022. Other countries are following. Due to the drastic drop in the uranium price some mining companies put their projects on halt awaiting a recovery of the price.
The risk of more nuclear accidents persists as long as the nuclear industry exists; technical or human failure or the combination of both can never be ruled out. Presently, 435 nuclear reactors are in operation across the world and some are under construction; not one of them is immune from an accident. Moreover, as the true extent of the world’s hunger for energy becomes obvious, the nuclear industry continues to operate outdated reactors far beyond their lifespan, which increases the risk of accidents tremendously.
Nuclear facilities are under severe threat due to increasingly unstable weather conditions caused by climate change. The nuclear disaster in Fukushima is a sad example of extreme weather conditions. The reactor was damaged by an earthquake which triggered a tsunami increasing the extent of destruction. The consequences of radioactive contamination will be felt by the people of Japan for many decades.
Although the accident of the Chernobyl reactor happened 28 years ago, a huge area surrounding the damaged reactor is still a no-go zone and will be so for many decades if not centuries to come because the soil is highly contaminated with radioactive substances and not fit for human habitation.
One of the largest problems of the nuclear industry is the radioactive waste. Despite more than half a century of research and exploration, no permanent and safe solution to isolate lethal radioactive waste from the environment has been found. The nuclear industry and its international supporters suggest storing the world’s nuclear waste in underdeveloped countries tempting them with the pledge of big earnings. This would make the receiving countries responsible and burden them with the most hazardous material that exists on earth. Radioactive decay and simultaneously radioactive contamination continues to take place for over 100,000 years.
Uranium emits ionising radiation which in contact is harmful to humankind and to all plant and animal life on earth. What radiation can do to living organisms was clearly illustrated in 2008 when the former Russian KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with a tiny dose of polonium-210. It killed him in a few days.
Nuclear radiation occurs when unstable atoms decay. It disrupts the functioning of the cells that make up living organisms. High-level radiation kills cells, resulting in radiation burns, sickness and death. Low-level radiation causes mutations, which can result in cancer and other diseases and hereditary genetic damage, even after 10, 20 or more years after exposure.
Nuclear power creates unacceptable risks, not only because of the dangers from reactors and failure to find a safe mechanism to manage radioactive waste, but also due to the considerable and growing risks from nuclear proliferation (production of nuclear weapons) and the threat of terrorism. The development of the nuclear industry leads to the growth of plutonium stockpiles which can be used to produce weapons. Presently, 32 countries are in the possession of material which can be used for the production of nuclear weapons, while eleven countries, including Iran, have the capacity to enrich uranium to a concentration usable for nuclear weapons. Materials for nuclear weapons are stockpiled worldwide, some of which are poorly controlled and being subject to theft in storage or during transportation. Meanwhile, each commercial-sized nuclear power station produces about 250 kg of plutonium every year, while civilian uranium enrichment facilities can be used to produce nuclear weapons in every country with such a programme. Further development of the nuclear industry will lead to ever growing stockpiles across the world, hence further increasing the risks of proliferation.
Another huge risk is the possibility of terror attacks. No nuclear power plant would withstand an impact similar to the one on the World Trade Centre in New York in September 11^th, 2001.
Alternative energy technologies are available and increasingly cost-effective. However, political will and a larger effort are needed to accelerate the development of renewable resources. Countries worldwide need to develop determined, environmentally sound energy policies, redirecting the investments to obtain the economic and environmental benefits of greatly increased energy efficiency and to support development of safe and clean renewable energy sources. This development is also needed to meet the reality of the growing climate crisis.

5. Conclusion

Nuclear power contradicts clean development. It is undermining climate protection by wasting time and taking resources away from more effective and clean solutions. The large costs and negative impacts make nuclear power an obstacle to the necessary development of safe, clean and affordable energy, both in developing and industrialised countries. For the sake of sustainable and clean electricity generation, renewable resources are the way to go, coupled with electricity efficiency as the cheapest and safest way. Besides the fact that nuclear is not the solution to avoid global warming and climate change, the danger of the entire nuclear life-cycle, nuclear accidents, unsolved disposal problems of nuclear waste and the prospect of proliferation are reasons to abandon all nuclear power schemes.