Nuclear Energy: Energy of the Future or Imminent Disaster

Nuclear Energy: Energy of the Future or Imminent Disaster
Background
Since the year 1954 people have been faced with the conundrum of nuclear energy. This process though unfamiliar with some, is when decaying uranium heats water that then turns a turbine which produces energy. In the coming years nuclear energy is going to play a major part in the worlds energy consumption if we are to meet carbon goals. Though nuclear energy has been around for over fifty years the battle still wages on over its use throughout the world.
Con
When most people hear nuclear energy the first thing that comes to there mind is nuclear disasters. One of the most notable events that took place “On April 26, 1986,[when] human error resulted in an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant north of Kiev, Ukraine. The accident left fifty workers dead, and leaked radio active materials across Europe.” (Duprea 2) Accidents like these and others have made the public quite weary of nuclear energy. This out of the fear of contracting illness, like cancer, from radioactive material released in such accidents. Though these accidental disasters are not the only threat to the public. Also a major threat to nuclear plants is the potential for a terrorist attack. “According to a report issued by the American government commission which investigated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda initially planned to hijack planes and fly them into U.S. nuclear facilities.”(Duprea 3) This leads us to ask are these plants worth the future possibility of a nuclear disaster on domestic soil? Though accidents are one of the detrimental effects on the environment it is not the only one. “The creation of usable energy at nuclear power facilities leaves a radioactive waste by-product, comprised of such matter as spent ‘nuclear fuel’.” (2) This nuclear waste very deadly when came in contact or in