Nuclear energy technologies were primarily developed during World War II, but the first technology appeared in 1895. Nuclear power plants generate electricity through nuclear reaction and have been around since 1956.

At nuclear plants, reactors produce and control energy that is acquired through the splitting of uranium atoms and combining atom.  These processes called fission and fusion, respectively.  This is a much cleaner and efficient way of producing electricity when compared to coal plants.  Nuclear reactors are powered by uranium, a very heavy metal found in Earth’s crust.  Enriched uranium has the ability to be extremely energy efficient.  In fact, one pound of highly enriched uranium can provide the same amount of energy as one million gallons of gasoline.  Also, one pound of uranium provides one million more times energy than a pound of coal.  Nuclear power plants provide approximately 17% of the world’s electricity, and 20% of the U.S. energy.  France is heavily involved in nuclear energy and derives nearly 75% of its electricity from nuclear reaction.

Greenhouse gases are not a byproduct of nuclear reaction.  According to reports in 2014 nuclear energy facilities prevented 595 million metric tons of C02 emissions, 1 million short tons of sulfur dioxide, and 0.48 million short tons of nitrogen oxide which would have been polluted the atmosphere if electric generation was done by coal plants and combined-cycle plants.

Although nuclear power plants don’t emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, they do generate radioactive byproduct.  Proper disposal of radioactive waste is a highly debated topic because safely disposing this byproduct is difficult.  Between 1940 and 1970 most radioactive waste was dumped into the ocean because the nuclear facilities were not entirely sure what to do with it.  They discovered dumping the waste into the ocean was not good for the environment, so today the waste is buried deep underground where the radioactivity will slowly decay.  Yucca Mountain in Nevada was proposed as the nation’s repository for nuclear waste but the plan was cancelled in 2011 by the Obama Administration.   Since the waste is buried so deep, it doesn’t contaminate underground water resources or any living organisms.  With nearly 100 nuclear facilities in 30 different states in the U.S., a lot of radioactive waste is produced.  Storing the waste in personal facilities can also be done instead of burying it.  Nuclear energy is a very clean energy source which can be achieved through the use complex technology.  More countries should participate in generating electricity through nuclear energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions.