After reading the news about recent events Japan's Fukushima I've concluded that the world's politicians are really idiots. The nuclear accident occurring at the Fukushima plant should be a lesson to which we can learn from not feared and to be used as a political weapon against nuclear power. Germany's decision to shut down its older plants and cancel construction of new plants is plain idiotic. Uranium, the source of nuclear fuel that is extremely energy efficient and puts out a high energy yield is the answer to our energy needs and independence. Just wait until the Russians jack up the price of natural gas. The Germans will be back to building nuclear plants in no time.
Let's go through some quick facts about Uranium. Uranium is a fairly common element on earth. It is 40 times more common than silver. The Earth has a substantial supply. The energy output of one ton of uranium is roughly equal to the energy output of 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil. One pound of uranium will make a ball only 1.3 inches in diameter. That is a pretty small space with a lot of energy relative to coal and oil. A major league baseball weighs about 5.25 ounces. A uranium baseball would weigh over 8.5 pounds! Worldwide there are 441 nuclear plants supply 16% of the world's electricity. Of those 441 only 3 accidence of the past 30 years, Chernobyl being the worst one, followed by Fukushima and Three Mile Island.
Let's do some simple math 441 plants with 3 failures over 30 years. Nuclear plant failure rate 0.68% that is less than 1% over 30 years starting with Three Mile Island as the first accident. One ton of uranium has 16,000 times more energy output than 1 ton of dirty coal. Now that is energy efficiency. Also how many people have died due to uranium radiation from a nuclear power and uranium mining? I am sure it is a lot less people that died when compared to coal mining and oil drilling. Finally Uranium produces nearly zero carbon and green house gas emissions relative to oil and coal. I could go on and on listing the positives of nuclear power. Just take a look at France.
I understand the dangers of radiation leakage or nuclear meltdown would cause. These dangers are not to be taken lightly. If a plant would meltdown or leak, large areas surrounding the plant would be uninhabitable for a long period of time. However, that pales in comparison to the damage of what oil and coal are doing to our planet. If we continue to use coal and oil it's possible the entire Earth may not be habitable for humanity. Since solar power and wind aren't energy efficient or cost effective and may not be for a very long time, nuclear is our best option. I am willing to take my chances with nuclear and sacrificing a small area of destruction compared to destroying the entire Earth with coal and oil.
Source: http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/guide/facts/
Full Disclosure: I own a small position in Cameco ticker symbol CCJ. Largest Uranium miner.
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