Nuclear Power – How Safe is it?

Nuclear power has been a huge concern for people all over the world since the splitting of the atom in the 1940s. Even on the secret Manhattan project, the place where it all started and the first ever nuclear weapons were created there were accidents involving nuclear materials which caused deaths – from those directly linked to the radioactive materials, such as those that killed scientists Louis Slotin and Harry Daghlian as well as those indirectly caused by the project, such as construction accidents.

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Nuclear power has always been divisive and something which most people have strong opinions on either way – a series of serious accidents at nuclear power plants such as Windscale in the UK, Three Miles Island in the US and of course the Chernobyl power plant disaster in the Ukraine all have helped to affirm to many people that nuclear power is inherently dangerous and certainly not to be trusted.

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However, the other side to the argument is that compared to coal and gas, nuclear power is much better for the planet. Nuclear power stations, when working as they should be are a much better choice than burning fossil fuels and this is something that we are going to have to face in the future.

People also wonder if the people who work at the nuclear power plants face an increased risk. This is something that in the early days of nuclear power may well have been the case, but in fact there are not only the usual sorts of workplace safety procedures in place nowadays, such as staff on courses like this first aid at work Tewkesbury based course from Tidal Training Direct, but also many extra precautions that keep not only workers but the public safe, with many people arguing that they are in fact one of the safest places to work.