@ISIDEWITHQuestionsscience8yrs ago

Do you support the use of nuclear energy?

Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release energy to generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power station. Since plans for a nuclear power plant at Carnsore Point in County Wexford were dropped in the 1970s, nuclear power in Ireland has been off the agenda. Ireland gets about 60% of its energy from gas, 15% from renewable and the remainder from coal and peat. Proponents argue that nuclear energy is now safe and emits much less carbon emissions than coal plants. Opponents argue that recent nuclear disasters in Japan prove that nuclear power is far from safe.

Answer Overview

Response rates from 122k Portugal voters.

39%
Yes
61%
No
30%
Yes
46%
No
7%
Yes, temporarily while we increase investment into cleaner renewable alternatives
15%
No, we should invest in cleaner alternatives such as wind, hydroelectric, thorium, and geothermal
1%
Yes, as long as there is no public subsidy
1%
Yes, and nationalize the industry
0%
Yes, but with public subsidy

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from Portugal voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @8YQ2LJ5from Guarda  answered…3yrs3Y

Yes, if they're ready to implement innovative and safe solutions (like the one Bill Gates proposed)

 @8XD2VZ5from Guarda  answered…3yrs3Y

Yes, but not in Portugal, only bigger countries need it

Latest News

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…7mos7MO

The Fantasy of Reviving Nuclear Energy

Representatives from more than 30 countries gathered in Brussels in March at a nuclear summit hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Belgian government. Thirty-four nations, including the United States and China, agreed “to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy,” including extending the lifetime of existing reactors, building new nuclear power plants and deploying advanced reactors.“Nuclear technology can play an important role in the clean energy transition,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told summit attendees. But she added that “the reality today, in most markets, is a reality of a slow but steady decline in market share” for nuclear powerThe numbers underscore that downturn. Solar and wind power together began outperforming nuclear power globally in 2021, and that trend continues as nuclear staggers along. Solar alone added more than 400 gigawatts of capacity worldwide last year, two-thirds more than the previous year. That’s more than the roughly 375 gigawatts of combined capacity of the world’s 415 nuclear reactors, which remained relatively unchanged last year. Pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 is a little like promising to win the lottery.For the United States, it would mean adding an additional 200 gigawatts of nuclear operating capacity (almost double what the country has ever built) to the 100 gigawatts or so that now exists, generated by more than 90 commercial reactors that have been running an average of 42 years. Globally it would mean tripling the existing capacity built over the past 70 years in less than half that time in addition to replacing reactors that will shut down before 2050.The Energy Department estimates the total cost of such an effort in the United States at roughly $700 billion. For much less money and in less time, the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewables like solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal power.

 @JudiciaryPiper from Illinois submitted…4mos4MO

Russian nuclear power plant workers injured in Ukrainian attack

A Ukrainian attack on a substation used by the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has injured eight employees of the facility, officials reported on Wednesday.Kiev allegedly launched three quadcopter-type kamikaze drones at the Raduga facility in Energodar, the city hosting Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The injured workers were part of a crew that was repairing the damage caused by a previous Ukrainian attack, the statement claimed. At least one worker is said to be in a serious condition.The initial strike on the Raduga substation happened two weeks ago and was confirmed by a monitoring mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Another site called Luch was hit in a separate strike.Neither station is critical for the work of the nuclear power plant, but its secondary facilities depend on them for power supplies. The strike on Wednesday once again disrupted the grid after both Raduga transformers were damaged.The IAEA has declined to attribute the attacks on substations in Energodar, but its chief, Rafael Grossi, has stressed that “whoever is behind this, it must stop.”“Drone usage against the plant and its vicinity is becoming increasingly more frequent. This is completely unacceptable and it runs counter to the safety pillars and concrete principles which have been accepted unanimously,” the official said.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2wks2W

Israel's Military Struggles Against Hamas's Elusive Guerrilla Force

The top commanders of Hamas are mostly dead. The group’s rank and file has been decimated. Many of its hide-outs and stockpiles have been captured and destroyed.But Hamas’s killing of an Israeli colonel in northern Gaza on Sunday underscored how the group’s military wing, though unable to operate as a conventional army, is still a potent guerrilla force with enough fighters and munitions to enmesh the Israeli military in a slow, grinding and as yet unwinnable war.Hamas’s remaining fighters are hiding from view in ruined buildings and the group’s vast underground tunnel network, much of which remains intact despite Israel’s efforts to destroy it, according to military analysts and Israeli soldiers.Some of those explosives were stockpiled before the start of the war. Others are repurposed Israeli munitions that failed to explode on impact, according to both Hamas and the Israeli military. Hamas released a video this week that appeared to show Hamas combatants turning an unexploded Israeli missile into an improvised bomb.In open combat, Hamas’s fighters are no match for Israel’s army, as the killing of Mr. Sinwar in southern Gaza last week showed. Cornered in the ruins of Rafah, Mr. Sinwar was killed by an Israeli unit that could call on tanks, drones and snipers for backup.Yet the aimlessness of Israel’s strategy has led to questions from both Israelis and Palestinians about why its soldiers were sent again to Jabaliya.“We occupy territories, and then we get out,” said Michael Milstein, an Israeli analyst of Palestinian affairs. “This kind of doctrine means that you find yourself in endless war.”

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