Question: How much polution does a nucular power station make

Daniel Marsh answered on 11 Jun 2018:

Normal power stations use fossil fuels and produce a lot of air pollution and carbon dioxide.

Nuclear power stations or reactors do not produce air pollution or carbon dioxide while they are producing electricity. However, the processes for mining and refining uranium ore and making reactor fuel all require large amounts of energy and there is also a lot of pollution associated with the concrete, metal and other materials required for building them.

The biggest pollution from nuclear power is the waste products such as uranium mill tailings, spent (used) reactor fuel, and other radioactive wastes. These radioactive materials have a very long decay time and can remain dangerous to human health for thousands of years and we need to find a way of disposing of them where there is no future risk to the environment.