More than 25 years later, the effort to contain the Chernobyl accident is far from over. Everyday workers in white suits report for duty to construct a new concrete shield to replace a massive sarcophagus built in 1986 that contains the still-radioactive core. It’s beginning to deteriorate and could collapse, which may let loose another radioactive cloud into the air. Ihor Gramotkin, director of the Chernobyl power plant was asked when the reactor site could again become inhabitable, he replied, “Atleast 20,000 years.”
This is because some of the isotopes released during the nuclear accident will stay radioactive for tens of thousands of years, clean up is the work not just of first responders but also of their descendants and their descendants' descendants. It’s fair to say that Chernobyl is still a danger zone to this very day. Now you may ask, should we have a nuclear power plant in Australia?
That’s where I say no, however there are some benefits to building a nuclear power plant. Here are some of the advantages:
1. No controlled air pollutants, such as sulphur and particulates, or greenhouse gases
2. Of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment
3. Nuclear power plants provide low-cost, predictable power at stable prices.
You may think that sounds all too good, however the bad out weighs it all.
For example in the Chernobyl accident in 1984 40,000 people died from radioactive induced