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Nuclear power greener/A Critique of CANDU reactors and greenhouse gas emissions

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(Review Paper) Cited in Nuclear power greener/A Critique of CANDU reactors and greenhouse gas emissions

Points Made

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Nuclear power plants release less carbon dioxide[1].

Methods

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They measured the greenhouse gases produced during the construction and maintenance of the nuclear plants. The values that were found: building, function and decommission of CANDU reactors is only 3.2 kt/TWh compared to carbon fossil fuels 15.41 kt/Twh. This supports that there is less carbon dioxide released by nuclear power used[1].

Results

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During preparation and construction of power plants, energy from fossil fuels is usually required. This energy could be used for things such as transport trucks, heat, earth moving, etc. These fossil fuels do release some greenhouse gases. However, the amount of greenhouse gas produced by nuclear power plants is smaller than the amount released by other types of power plants. When the construction phase is over, nuclear power plants can use some of the energy that they produced to power their plant. On the other hand, steam power plants, for example, require fossil fuels to keep powering the plant, which therefore releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. In the end, nuclear power plants produce 100 times less carbon dioxide than other power plants do [1].

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andseta, S., Thompson, M. J., Jarrell, J. P., & Pendergast, D. R. (2000) CANDU reactors and greenhouse gas emissions. Canadian Nuclear Association. http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/CO2_from_CANDU.pdf
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