Nuclear Power and GHGs

Many have publicly endorsed nuclear power as being "the answer" to the problem of of how to expand energy supplies in a carbon-neutral fashion. Is it?

Here is a good site about uranium mining to start the quest for answers.

To answer this question, we need to look at the full "nuclear fuel cycle". Back in the early days after the discovery that electricity could be generated from heat from a nuclear reaction, the "fuel cycle" was proposed.

This cycle was comprised of the following steps: 1) mine uranium; 2) produce "yellow cake" uranium, composed primarily of U235; 3) create nuclear reactor fuel; 4) React the fuel, producing heat, in a suitable facility; 5) reprocess spent nuclear fuel; 6) dispose of remaining high-level nuclear waste.

Let's examine the environmental costs of each of these steps, and contrast them with the overall cost of large-scale wind power.

Dave