The one big problem with nuclear energy is that there it can be used as a weapon. In the course of the history, term “nuclear” almost permanently got associated in our minds with words “dangerous,” “toxic,” and “deadly.”
Precisely due to these misconceptions that were further reinforced by the legitimate fear of international terrorism, Iran Nuclear Energy Program arose much controversy in the West.
Iran’s Nuclear Program roots back to 1960’s, even before the Islamic revolution. Then the US and France themselves helped Iran to develop its first nuclear energy research plant and exported enriched Uranium to Iran. After the political turmoil and years of economic isolation that took place after Islamists overthrew the Shah of Iran, Iran renewed its Nuclear Energy Program with the help of the USSR.
In the 2000’s, however, Iran’s Nuclear Energy Program attracted the attention of the international community as Iran obtained a powerful technology to enrich Uranium. Even though Iran signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the UN Security Council became concerned about the possibility that Iran could devise a nuclear weapon. The leading intelligence agencies of the world, the US CIA and German BND, issued several reports, which all differed in their conclusions about the current state of the Iran Nuclear Program and the possibility that Iran worked on a nuclear weapon.
After a decade of political uncertainty, in the more recent years (2013-2015), Iran was allowed to have some Uranium enrichment plants, although a certain limit was put on the amount of the enriched Uranium that could be produced. The first Iranian nuclear power plant, Bushehr, started working in 2010. Its construction was completed a year earlier with the help from Russia.
If we set aside political debates, nuclear energy is probably one of the cleanest and overall the best ways to reduce emissions and lessen the Global Warming effect. Nevertheless, not many view it this way. For politicians as well as for much of the nation, nuclear energy still, first of all, is a weapon. After all, it is indeed a devastating tool if it gets into the wrong hands. Given the current state of political affairs, nuclear energy is still widely viewed as a danger, not as a way to battle the climate change. Fear that one may use nuclear power plants and enriched uranium to build nuclear missiles or bombs is a huge deterring factor in the nuclear power plants propagation in developing countries.

Sources:

“Nuclear Power Plant in Iran.” The World Nuclear Association. The World Nuclear Association, Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Tirone, Jonathan. “Iran’s Nuclear Program.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Hecker, Siegfried S. “A Nuclear Energy Program That Benefits the Iranian People.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 06 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.