The increasing concern of global warming is pushing governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Alberta government recently put into effect a carbon tax to combat increasing emissions. They also plan on phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030 with renewable resources. Should the Alberta government look to nuclear fission to replace the coal plants they are shutting down? What is the cost of building a new plant and how many do we need? Is nuclear fission any better for the environment? Is it safe? How does nuclear power even work? Although nuclear power would be very effective in reducing greenhouse gas, ultimately, it has too many other problems for it to be used in Alberta.
How Nuclear Power works
To decide the fate of nuclear energy, we must understand how it works. In chapter 3 of his book Nuclear Power, Paul Breeze (2017) describes the basics of nuclear fission. There are two types of nuclear reactions, fission and fusion. While
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Spent fuel rods still contain many radioactive isotopes. This radiation can cause cancer, mutations and cell death. Safe disposal of radioactive waste is fission’s biggest environmental problem. Methods to deal with spent fuel are not without problems. Current solutions include recycling the spent fuel, but some of the rod will not be recycled, only reducing the amount of waste. Encapsulation and storage of the waste is the only current full disposal method. Storage spaces for nuclear products must be in a bunker in a stable rock formation; no current site exists. Other methods proposed include ejecting the nuclear waste into the sun, bombarding it with neutrons to completely decay the waste, and using particle reactors to destroy the waste. These are only very expensive and not very viable methods. Most nuclear waste ends up being stored at the plant, which does not count as