Nuclear energy is current produced from burning uranium isotopes U-235 and U-238. The initial source of fuel is however plutonium (Pu-239). When heated the U-235 releases a neutron particle and becomes a waste product U-238 which can be recycled to produce Pu-239. Well, the intention is not to make you an atom scientist 
in these 5 minutes of reading, therefore we shall spare you the numbers and instead focus on the simple understanding of how nuclear energy affects your life and how it can be made safe. This is so that you can join the debate of whether of or not countries like USA and Iran should be allowed to make more nuclear power plants or not with an informed mind.
Nuclear energy remains the most cost effective, sustainable and produces the least in production of volumes waste products. This is the reason for its preferred utilization in developed economies. In the USA for example, 20% of the energy sources in the country is powered by about 104 nuclear power plants spread from West to East coast.
Is nuclear energy green energy?
The question as to whether nuclear energy is green energy has been discussed in public and professional cycles since the advent of the energy source. The term green means clean energy with minimal effects on the environment due to waste or production processes. It has also been synonymous with renewable energy.
Assuming that renewable energy is equal to green energy, then we need to first of all understand the meaning of renewable energy. When energy is referred to as renewable energy, then it should be from an inexhaustible natural resource such as wind, solar heat or geothermal power. The other sources of renewable energy include biomass such as coal used in heating or small plants of hydroelectric power, and biofuels. The most preferred sources of renewable and green energy are solar panels and wind powers which are growing rate about 30% per annum globally.
The growth of awareness in renewable and green energy is now driving political campaigns in the developed economies such as USA, Spain, France and Germany. Other developing countries such as Brazil produce biofuels of ethanol mixed with gasoline from sugarcane. This is also fueled by the impact on bad energy practices on climate change with increasing flooding or draughts across the world, increasing oil prices and accidents such as in nuclear plants.
As to whether nuclear energy is renewable or green, the proponents argue that it takes very little uranium which has so much world supply to fuel nuclear power plant. These uranium rods can also be recycled and therefore a small amount can be used over a long period of time almost insignificantly inexhaustible. They also say that nuclear energy is clean because the plants produce no noise, have no waters gushing out, use a small space of land compared to the hydro or wind power mills. The only undoing is the radiation effects of the roads which they argue that if treated, they can be stored in a bottle size container and buried thus less compared to huge land burial sites for biofuels.
What has Fukushima nuclear power plant accident taught us?
Fukushima has revived the ghosts of opponents of the nuclear power plants. They now have arsenals to shoot at the proponents given the threat to human life and the environment caused by the flop in this nuclear plant situated in the most developed economy. In fact, it is said that this has changed German chancellors and the government stand on nuclear power with more considerations now for wind and solar power. Simply put, it has told the world that we still know very little about nuclear power to boast of safety. We may need to halt them for a while, don’t we?
How can we make nuclear energy safe?
All is not lost; there are several ways we can make nuclear plants such as Fukushima safer.
- Build nuclear plants in remote areas: no civilian should live within a 30 mile radius from the nuclear plants. This would provide for effective response with less human risks in the event of another Fukushima.
- Do not place them where there are likelihood of physical disruptions: avoid sea ports or fault lines or near tornado lines as these have proved that they cannot be controlled just yet.
- Have enough water colors with multiple source of cooling systems: the radiation effects are minimized as long as the water is present to cover the uranium rods. The set up should also allow for quick burial of the entire plant under a massive concrete.
- Consider research into hydrogen powered heaters: hydrogen research that are ongoing may provide a much safer atomic energy than uranium, the governments should intensify this research.
Conclusion
The demand for world energy is on the rise. In fact, without a growth in effective and efficient energy sources, the world would simply come to a halt. The economies would collapse and the social effect would be great. We have to keep the jobs going and keep food being produced. All it needs is better understanding of nuclear energy and to seek alternative less radioactive materials. As of safety, we have had only a paltry number of accidents in nuclear power plants compared to thousands from other sources such as hydro and coal mines.
This is a post by guest author Aqeel Syed who writes about mother nature at his blog www.healingsociety.org/