What's your opinion on nuclear power?

The debate on what's the next best, sustainable energy source has always been fierce. One of the
most controversial of them is nuclear power.

Nuclear power, is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Presently, the vast majority of
electricity from nuclear power is produced from uranium and plutonium. Though, to note that, in the
lastest years, thorium nuclear power has been the technology with lots of potential, overriding the
outdated former.

Nuclear power provides a good alternative for fossil fuels as relatively safe and sustainable power. It
reduced up to 64 giga tonnes of carbon emission. Unlike nuclear waste which is stored, exhaust fumes
is released into the air every day, affecting people's health and contributing to climate change.
Nuclear energy also reduces cancer, lung diseases and accidents in coal mines. Despite the
catastrophic consequences of the 2 major nuclear accidents: Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear
energy still caused considerably less death annually compared to coal.

Nuclear power regained its attention from the public, thanks to thorium energy. It is approximately 3
times more abundant than uranium in the earth's crust. Nuclear plants from thorium don't produce as
much harmful waste as uranium (atoms bigger than uranium itself), notably plutonium which can be
used in bombs. The waste from thorium power production might only be dangerous for a few
hundred years, in contrast to a couple of thousand years. Moreover, thorium is considerably more
energy efficient, as 1 tonne of thorium produces as much power as 200 tonnes of uranium. With
these advantages, governments should seriously consider nuclear energy from thorium.

However, this kind of power also comes with a lot of challenges. Nuclear weapon production comes
hand in hand with nuclear energy production, because India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan have
never signed the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. There is also the problem of
handling nuclear waste, as no one has found the place to store it for thousands of years. With thorium
however, hopefully this problem can be tackled more easily. Furthermore, nuclear accidents have
disastrous effects on local areas, leaving them unhabitable for tens, or even hundreds of years. Safety
(for both the worker and the local people) require strict rules and protocols, alongside with huge
responsibility from the managers and authorities. Nuclear energy has not gained the trust from
people, because anything related to 'nuclear' makes them think of bombs and fatal things. It is
understandable, because thorium has not been extensively tested in terms of mass-production. At
present, most nuclear power plants use outdated technology, and it will cost a lot of money to change
into the newer ones.

To summarize, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, especially considering thorium
energy which has huge unused potentials. Though it still needs more extensive studying in order to
fully understand it to make wise desicions accordingly, as well as raising the public's awareness about
this.