The topic of Nuclear power plants are of hot debate at the moment, everyone around the globe is discussing whether they are a sustainable source of energy or not.

Nuclear power plants are an alternative source of energy; nuclear power plants use the power of the atom to generate electricity. The steps in which the power is created is as follows: Step 1: Tiny parts of the uranium, known as atoms, are made to split, or fission. Step 2: During fission, even smaller particles of the atom, called neutrons, are released. Step 3: The neutrons strike more uranium atoms, resulting in the release of heat needed to release energy, which results in electricity power.

This source of energy allegedly has a very low fuel cost and has minuscule pollution in comparison to fossil fuel plants, nuclear power plants have the image of being clean with hardly any emissions. The results are: cleaner air, no interference with the earth's climate, avoids ground-level ozone formation and prevention of acid rain. Some would say that this form of energy supply is economical and cost-effective because of the steady fuel prices, high plant performance and the modernized plants. However it is evident that the planning, building, and operating of a nuclear power plant are a prolonged, costly, and extremely complex process.

The topic of Nuclear power plants has been a major point of discussion recently, due to the earthquake in Japan, which has brought on a lot of debate on the sustainability and ethics of nuclear power plants, as it is evident that they are very harmful when caused to malfunction. In relation to this, the article called “Sociology Theory and the Environment” by Frederick H. Butlel, Peter Dickens, Riley E.Dunlop and August Gijswijt, talks about how this topic has been of major concern, as for many years ecologists have become more than just scientists as they have contributed to the environmental debate. Problems such as radioactive fallout, pesticide poisoning, over pollution and the like have all have been main topics of distress, which the environment and the people surrounding it have to face.