Risks, Costs & Benefits of Nuclear Power

Although nuclear power continues to play an active role in the energy planning of other nations, the U.S. nuclear power industry has declined. Five basic problems plague the current U.S. nuclear power system: the nation has been building the wrong kind of reactors; has taken the wrong approach to regulation; has taken the wrong approach to handling radioactive wastes; and has failed to resolve issue that can be solved only through high-level political will and leadership (Morgan 8).

Many people believe that these six problems can be resolved and that nuclear power should make a comeback. A critical element that pervades much of the nuclear issue is a failure to treat the public with respect. With a change in philosophy and some bold new programs, these five problems could

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re technically mediocre and have been that way for most of their professional lives. Their commitment is often to self-preservation rather than to the future of the industry in this country. Despite grand justifications, the nuclear power regulatory system serves no purpose beyond providing work for functionaries in the industry, the agencies, and a group of parasitic consulting organizations (Morgan 30). The best strategy would be to establish a new regulatory organization that contains two very separate branches. One branch, staffed largely with new people, would oversee the new nuclear industry. The other branch would continue to deal with the existing industry but should slowly shrink over time as existing nuclear plants live out their useful lifetimes. The new regulations should work toward a system in which change is not an admission of error, but an indication that things are working as they should (Whipple). On the other hand, many people believe that nuclear power will never be safe because no one knows what to do with nuclear wastes. It is a simple fact of geology and engineering that people do not know how to build anything that will reliably last untended for thousands of years (Morgan). Those that oppose nu
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Approximate Word count = 1666
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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