NET ZERO
Against
• Radioactive spent fuel is a messy problem One of the biggest problems in adopting nuclear energy is dealing with the waste .
Nuclear energy requires uranium atoms in the nuclear fission process . Eventually , the uranium is ‘ spent ’ and can no longer produce electricity . This uranium is now radioactive , extremely dangerous and will remain so for up to 300 years ( 1 % will be radioactive for 10,000 years ). If a living creature comes into contact with this waste , it may cause cancer cells to rapidly grow . This waste must be stored safely until it is no longer a threat to life or to the environment .
• There is a high risk While the opportunity for clean energy is huge , so is the risk when things go wrong .
Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster , 350,000 people were evacuated from their homes , mostly in Ukraine . 23 % of the agricultural land in Belarus was made useless due to radioactive contamination . As a result , independence movements started to grow stronger . The economic impact of the cleanup was so heavy that Mikhail Gorbachev , General Secretary of the Communist Party 1985- 1991 , stated that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed .
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