Answer to Question #159590 in Physical Chemistry for earl

Question

Please spend some time reflecting on what you've learned about alternate energy sources and think about some of the challenges our country is facing in its future.

1. Would you feel safe living within 5 miles of a nuclear power plant? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Though nuclear reactors are a non conventional and partially renewable sources of energy but they have many implications :

The regular nuclear radiations like radioactive iodine and cesium are being released into the environment and may have a range of more than 10 miles. These radiations can directly kill cells or it can cause mutations to DNA and if untreated ,these mutations can be cancerous.

Another aspect of danger from living in a radius of 5 miles from nuclear reactors will be nuclear explosions which can cause a widespread destructions in a large area.

An example of such incident will be Chernobyl Disaster where radiation levels were on peak in a radios of around 20 miles. These radiations still attribute to thyroid cancer in children even after 25 years in that area.

So, it is highly unsafe to live in a radius of 5 miles from the nuclear reactor site.