Nuclear energy is one of the most controversial forms of energy known to man. Its disadvantages are widely known and criticized, such as the nuclear wastes released from the power plants, the virtually impossible disposal of the wastes, the potential for terrorist attacks on these power plants, and the unbelievably high price needed to even build a power plant. Although the risks outweigh the benefits, nuclear plants may be needed because of the fact that they are the cleanest way of producing energy without any environmental drawbacks. Overall, nuclear energy is and will always be a continuous topic for discussion and debate whether you are for it or against it. In the heart of any nuclear power plant lies the reactor. A reactor is a device used to control nuclear reactions so that the energy created and released by the reactions can be converted to a useful form at a constant rate. There are two types of reactors used in the modern world these reactors are called fission reactors and breeder reactors, fission reactors are work by separating a fissionable Uranium-235 from a non-fissionable Uranium-238 by using a very complex process, after this process a new more “enriched” form of uranium is produced that contains 3% of Uranium 235, this new substance is used to make uranium oxide for a form of fuel in a reactor. After this process, the droplets of uranium oxide are placed in metal tubes called fuel rods and are ready for the reaction. However, a breeder reactor is a reactor specifically designed to make fissionable fuel. in a breeder reactor, the Uranium 235 created undergoes a transmutation in where the nucleus is struck by a neutron to completely separate the uranium 235 from the Uranium 238. Moreover, while the reactor is using the Uranium 235 as fuel, it begins producing a highly toxic substance known as Plutonium 239, this by product is extremely dangerous and can cause cancer or genetic damage in even small doses. Furthermore, the type of reaction that occurs in a reactor is known as a fission reaction. A fission reaction is a type of reaction that produces energy from the fission of U-235. This reaction contains high speed neutrons that are used for energy by the reactor, and too be captured by the Uranium 235 by an object called a moderator. Fission reactions also give off tremendous amounts of heat that are converted to other forms of energy later on, the heat given off by the reaction must be removed from the core, where the fuel is located or else essentially the core would melt. In order to remove the heat, the reactor uses coolants that are used to cool off the heat and the reactor. Fission reactions are fairly stable and can occur whenever Uranium 235 is in its presence. However, fusion reactions can only work under very specific circumstances in which the temperature of the reaction is 10^9 degrees Celsius, this temperature is insanely high and no normal materials can support this temperature. Nuclear energy is the world's largest source of emission-free energy. Nuclear power plants produce no controlled air pollutants, such as sulfur and particulates, or greenhouse gases. The use of nuclear energy in place of other energy sources helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate , avoid ground-level ozone and prevent acid rain. Of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment, including water, land, habitat, species, and air resources. Nuclear energy is the most eco-efficient of all energy sources because it produces the most electricity relative to its environmental impact. Furthermore, Nuclear energy can be reprocessed and recycled in the form of plutonium and uranium which can be used to power the reactor. On the other hand, the drawbacks of nuclear energy are clearly noted and documented in history. For example, nuclear energy is extremely costly and can cost upwards of a billion dollars for each power plant, also the most common drawback with nuclear energy is all the radioactive waste created by the power plant. All the waste created is still radioactive and will be radioactive for the next couple hundred years even if it is put in the ground, this waste cannot be completely destroyed or disposed of, which poses a major problem for anyone around the waste. Moreover, many people state that nuclear plants are not safe and are very vulnerable to any sort of terrorist attack. If a power plant were to be attacked or blown up the results would be catastrophic, everyone in the relative are would have to be relocated and evacuated because of the waste and radioactivity. I personally believe that nuclear power is not and should not be a viable option for New York City. There are too many risks involved with the construction of a power plant and the risks involved far outweigh the benefits. Nuclear power is far too expensive, time consuming, environmentally dangerous, and is an easy target for a terrorist attack. Moreover, we should never ever build a power plant near new York considering that New York City the biggest and arguably most popular city in the world is basically right near wherever this plant would be built. This aspect makes the power plant even more of a threat to be attacked since it is so close to New York City, and if it were to be sabotaged or exploded by terrorists the effects the radiation will have on all of New York will be catastrophic and deadly. Furthermore if we were to build a plant, where would we dump all the radioactive waste created by this power plant, New York is far too valuable to be contaminated with radioactive waste and the surrounding states are too. So basically, the waste would sit inside the power plant forever in need of a place to go since waste builds up quickly in a reactor, Moreover, the cost to build the reactor will be amazingly high around a billion dollars per power plant, which Is far too much money for New York to give to a not worthy cause, especially since we are already in enough debt as a city and a nation. Also the stakeholders in coal and other natural gases will be basically run out of business if a power plant was built, since all of new York would be powered by this power plant. These stakeholders will most definitely be against a power plant, and will profusely deny any construction of this plant. However, even though this power plant would be a bad idea in my opinion the benefits created by its existence will be very useful and helpful our city, for example: the nuclear plant will not emit any sort of emissions into the air which is extremely good since New York has one of the highest rates of air pollution in the entire country and world. Also, these power plants have very little environmental effects other than waste which is far less of a threat than the emissions created from fossil fuels, which pollute the air, deplete the ozone layer, and speed up the crippling effect of global warming. Overall, even though nuclear power maybe a somewhat reliable source of energy with some benefits, the risks and downfalls of the power plants far outweigh the minor benefits provided,