What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power generation? Is nuclear power safe?

What is nuclear power generation

Nuclear power generation is very similar to thermal power generation, which uses the heat energy released by nuclear fission in a nuclear reactor to generate electricity. Boilers for thermal power generation can be replaced by nuclear reactors and steam generators, and nuclear fission energy can replace the chemical energy of fossil fuels. In addition to boiling water reactors, other types of power reactors are primary coolant heating through the core, through the steam generator to transfer heat to the third circuit or second circuit of water, forming steam to drive the turbine generator. The primary coolant is heated through the core into saturated steam at about 70 atmospheres, which is a boiling water reactor, which goes through the separation of the water and then directly drives the turbine generator after drying.

The construction cost of nuclear power plants is low, and the capital construction cost is 1.5 to 2 times that of the same railway station, but its fuel cost is far lower than the cost of coal fuel, and the operation and maintenance cost is lower than that of thermal power stations. If you master the nuclear fusion reaction technology, the use of seawater as fuel, it is inexhaustible, want to understand the principle of nuclear power generation, please read "What is the principle of nuclear power generation" this article. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power generation?

Second, the advantages of nuclear power generation

1, compared with fossil fuel power generation, nuclear power generation will not emit a large amount of pollutants into the atmosphere, will not pollute the air, and nuclear power generation will not emit carbon dioxide to aggravate the earth's greenhouse effect.

2, the shaft fuel used in nuclear power generation is only used for power generation. The world's nuclear resources are relatively rich, nuclear fuel uranium, lithium, boron, thorium deuterium and so on, uranium in the world's reserves of about 4.17 million tons. The amount of energy that the Earth can provide and the nuclear fuel resources that can be developed are more than 100,000 times that of fossil fuels. An economical and effective measure to alleviate the world energy crisis is the application of nuclear energy, which has many advantages, one nuclear fuel has many advantages, such as nuclear energy is millions of times larger than chemical energy, small size and large energy.

3. The energy density of fossil fuels is millions of times lower than that of nuclear fuels, so the fuel used in nuclear power plants is small in size and convenient for transportation and storage. And because the amount of nuclear fuel transported is small, nuclear power plants can be built near industrial areas where they are most needed. At the same time, a small amount of radioactive substances such as titanium, uranium, and radium in the coal will fall to the vicinity of the thermal power station with the smoke and dust, causing pollution to the environment. Nuclear power plants are built with layers of barriers, basically do not emit pollutants that pollute the environment, and radioactive pollution is much less than coal-fired power stations.

4, the proportion of fuel costs in the cost of nuclear power generation is relatively low, and the cost of nuclear power generation is not easily affected by the international economic situation, so the cost of power generation is more stable than other power generation methods.

Is nuclear power safe

3. Disadvantages of nuclear power generation

1. A fission chain reaction must be completed to produce nuclear energy. If nuclear fission is out of control, it will produce neutrons and radioactive substances that have great harm to the environment and human body. At present, several nuclear leakage accidents have occurred around the world, which have brought serious harm to the ecology and people. Therefore, some environmentalists argue that nuclear energy is not a safe source of energy compared to other renewable energy sources.

2, although the used nuclear fuel is small in size, it has strong radioactivity, if not properly handled, it will have a fatal impact on environmental life. Nuclear waste from a nuclear reactor can die in less than a minute. Conventional physical, chemical, or biological methods cannot eliminate the radioactivity of nuclear waste, which can only be reduced by the decay of the radionuclides themselves. And these radionuclides have very long half-lives, tens of thousands or even millions of years. With the increasing number of nuclear power plants around the world, nuclear waste poses an increasing threat to the natural environment. An important issue facing scientists around the world will be how to safely and permanently dispose of nuclear waste.

3. The financial risk of nuclear power plants is high and the investment cost is too high. In addition, the lower thermal efficiency of nuclear power generation makes it emit more waste heat into the environment than the average fossil fuel power plant, so the thermal pollution of nuclear power plants is more serious.