While nuclear energy offers a source of greenhouse emissions-free electricity, it also poses dangers that are unique to it as an industry, for it is the only source of power that produces radioactive waste and has catastrophic consequences in the event of a massive safety failure. While the hazards posed by the waste products of nuclear energy are similar in some limited respects to those posed by other toxic industrial processes, radioactive spills have a the potential to poison the landscape for centuries, not years. Meanwhile, the perils of a reactor accident are incomparable to those of any other industry.
Identification
Nuclear energy is the process which converts heat produced by a controlled nuclear fission reaction, first, into kinetic energy by means of a turbine, and then into electricity by means of a generator. In this respect, it is no different in its general aspects from other thermal power plants that derive their heat from the burning of fossil fuels, or from geothermal sources. The main source of danger from nuclear energy stems from the nuclear fission reaction and the wastes produced.
