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Why are Countries Giving Up Nuclear Power Plants?

Brendon Ahn

Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2. According to this equation, when 1g of mass turns to energy, it can boil more than 100 swimming pools for athletes. A century has passed and thanks to this equation, we are using nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants have been highlighted as the most innovative energy producer thanks to their high energy efficiency and being eco-friendly. However, despite its advantages, expensive construction costs, many radioactive materials it produces, and serious problems such as nuclear disasters can’t be ignored. Therefore, many countries like Germany are starting to ban or decrease the number of nuclear power plants and are trying to replace nuclear power plants with renewable green energy. Nuclear accidents from nuclear power plants and radioactive waste cause countries to start shutting down nuclear power plants and this affects renewable energy to the core.

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Nuclear accidents from nuclear power plants which are irreversible cause many countries to ban nuclear power plants. These nuclear disasters can not only affect the country where the nuclear disaster occurred but can also affect the entire world. In the case of the Fukushima nuclear disaster that occurred in 2011 on March 11th, the Japanese government decided to discharge more than 115 million tons of radiation-contaminated water into the ocean on October 17th, 2020 which has been a global issue. To illustrate, when they discharge, they claim to have purified the radiation-contaminated water, but it has been shown that radioactive substances such as tritium(3H) couldn’t be removed which will cause serious damage to the marine ecosystem and will affect us as well. Also, the problem of nuclear disasters is that once they have occurred, damage caused by nuclear accidents are irreversible and can never be cured. Most elements used in nuclear power plants have a half-life of hundreds of millions of years and the disaster exposes radioactive materials continuously. This affects the environment of the entire world and especially neighboring countries. There will be conflicts between neighboring countries and the country’s economy as well. Therefore, nuclear accidents cause countries to give up nuclear power plants.


Nuclear power plants produce deadly radioactive waste continuously and this encourages many countries to give up nuclear power plants. The process of processing this radioactive waste takes lots of time, money, and area. Since radioactive waste releases strong heat( about 800 °C), these radioactive wastes should be stored in a thick stainless steel container or hardened with concrete. Besides these ways, liquid waste is concentrated by an ion exchange method and placed in a drum or chemically treated and diluted with a large amount of water to discharge. However, these processes are very tricky and even a small amount of radioactive waste being leaked can be fatal. In addition, an astronomical amount of money is required in this process. Many advanced countries sell radioactive waste to 3rd world countries and this destroys that country's environment and shows the gap between rich and poor. This increases the conflict between advanced and developing countries. In addition, since there are few regulations or rough substances and poor education about the dangerousness of radioactive waste, the processing is even more fatal. Thus, radioactive waste causes countries to shut down nuclear power plants.


Expensive construction costs and burdensome expenses to maintain nuclear power plants cause many countries to withdraw from nuclear power plants. Unlike renewable energy generators, which are now one of the cheapest energy sources in the world, construction costs of nuclear power plants are very expensive, and nuclear costs are rising; many nuclear generators are being closed because of economic problems. To illustrate, according to the “Nuclear Investment Cost Trend” document, the construction cost of Shin-Gori Units 1 and 2, which were completed at the end of 2012, was 4.7 trillion won. However, the initial project cost of Shinhanul Units 1 and 2, which were postponed to the first half of next year, was KRW 6.3 trillion. Still, the actual input cost was around KRW 8 trillion which means that the construction cost increased 2.3 times between 8 years. Experts are anticipating that Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6, which are under construction in the same furnace type and scheduled to be completed from 2023 to 2024, will have a construction cost close to 11 trillion won, an increase of about 3 trillion won. Also, investment in nuclear power plants to maintain the generator such as security, and mining infrastructure is astronomical and draws funding away from investment in cleaner sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal. Due to these economic problems, many countries are too shutting down nuclear power plants.


What will the future of energy look like if this trend continues?


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