Nuclear Power: The Full Story Michael Ellis

How does it work https://youtu.be/R7WPEYGr1Vs?t=1m34s

Environmental Impact 4 factors to judge environmental impact: -Acid Rain (sulfur eqv.) -Carbon footprint (CO2 eqv.) -Water eutrophication (phosphate eqv.) -Total energy consumed

Environmental Impact: Advantages Low carbon footprint Nuclear power helps avoid 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 annually Equivalent to ___ cars

Environmental Impact: Disadvantages By-products of nuclear fission have half-lives that range from days to millions of years Unique storage requirements Net energy dependent on uranium ore grade

Economics 4 economic factors: -Capital cost -Plant operating cost -External costs -Other costs

Economics: Advantages Nuclear energy converts 92% of its potential energy to usable energy 160000x more potential than coal Nuclear power also has the lowest ¢/kWh

Economic: Disadvantages Costly to refine uranium (dependent on grade) Nuclear power plants more expensive to build Security costs

Social/Political Canada and US highest social involvement in Nuclear power discussion Most environmental disasters not Nuclear power related National security a large concern

Thanks for listening What do you think?