page_title: Anti-nuclear movement
section_title: Anti-nuclear concerns
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-nuclear movement / Issues / Anti-nuclear concerns
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Chernobyl power plant taken from the roof of a residential building in Pripyat, Ukraine. Photo Taken by Jason Minshull. العربية: وبالنظر الى تشيرنوبيل ماخوذه من سطح المبنى في بريبيات ، اوكرانيا. Deutsch: Blick von einem Hausdach auf Pripyat, im Hintergrund der Reaktor von Tschernobyl. Italiano: Vista di Chernobyl dall'alto di un palazzo in Pripyat, Ucraina. Foto realizzata da Jason Minshull. Español: Vista de Chernobyl tomada desde el tejado de un edificio en Pripyat, Ucrania. Foto tomada por Jason Minshull. Suomi: Kuva rakennuksen katolta Pripjatista, Ukrainasta. Taustalla näkyy tuhoutunut reaktori. Kuvannut Jason Minshull. Ελληνικά: Άποψη της μονάδας παραγωγής ενέργειας του Chernobyl που ελήφθει από την οροφή ενός κτιρίου κατοικιών στο Pripyat της Ουκρανίας. 日本語: チェルノブイリ原子力発電所（中央奥）の遠景。Jason Minshull撮影 Nederlands: Weergave van Tsjernobyl genomen van het dak van een gebouw in Pripyat, Oekraïne. Polski: Widok z dachu domu opuszczonego miasta Prypeć. Slovenčina: Pohľad na elektráreň Černobyľ odfotený z obytného domu v Pripjati, Ukrajina. Slovenščina: Zapuščeno mesto Pripjat z jedrsko elektrarno Černobil v ozadju 中文: 從烏克蘭普里皮亞特鎮的廢棄住宅頂樓遠眺車諾比核電廠 Русский: Припять. Вид на Чернобыльскую АЭС и город с крыши жилого дома. עברית: פריפיאט. מבט על הכור הגרעיני בצ'רנוביל מגג של בית מגורים בעיר פריפייאט (כ-3 ק"מ מצ'רנוביל) Português: Vista de Chernobyl retirado do telhado de um prédio em Pripyat, na Ucrânia. Foto tirada por Jason Minshull. 한국어: 프리피야트에 있는 건물 지붕에서 찍은 체르노빌의 전경. Jason Minshull이 촬영. Magyar: A csernobili atomerőmű látképe egy pripjatyi ház tetejéről fényképezve. Készítette: Jason Minshull
context_page_description: Many people who are anti-nuclear, are against the use of nuclear power for electricity generation, since they think nuclear power is dangerous. They consider the risk of a nuclear accident unacceptable and generally believe that radioactive waste cannot be disposed of safely. Many also see uranium mining and nuclear reprocessing as bad, because of the environmental risks of these activities. The 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents have "revived anti-nuclear passions worldwide, putting governments on the defensive and undermining the nuclear power industry's recent renaissance".
context_section_description: Anti-nuclear groups believe that nuclear power is a risk to people and the environment. These include health risks and environmental damage from uranium mining, processing and transport, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, the unsolved problem of nuclear waste, and the possibility of further serious accidents. Anti-nuclear critics see nuclear power as a dangerous, expensive way to boil water to generate electricity.
  Opponents of nuclear energy make connections between the international export and development of nuclear power technologies and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The facilities and expertise to produce nuclear power can be readily adapted to produce nuclear weapons. Greenpeace suggests that nuclear power and nuclear weapons have grown up like Siamese twins.
  Nuclear power plants are very expensive. Making reliable cost estimates is difficult, and estimates for new reactors in the USA range from $5 billion to $10 billion per unit. Building nuclear plants is seen to be "a risky business", according to several notable credit rating agencies and investment analysts.
  Nuclear accidents are often cited by anti-nuclear groups as evidence of the inherent danger of nuclear power. The most well-known nuclear accident, a mishandled safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 in Kiev, Ukraine, "killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property". Radioactive fallout from the accident concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and at least 350,000 people were forcibly resettled away from these areas. After the accident, "traces of radioactive deposits unique to Chernobyl were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere". Other  serious nuclear accidents include the Mayak disaster, Soviet submarine K-431 accident, Soviet submarine K-19 accident, Chalk River accidents, Windscale fire, Church Rock Uranium Mill Spill and the SL-1 accident. The Fukushima nuclear disaster occured in 2011. Clean-up from the Fukushima nuclear disaster is expected to cost over 12 trillion yen ($100 billion) and take 30 to 40 years.
  Especially since the September 11 attacks, people have become concerned that terrorists or criminals could bomb a nuclear plant and release radioactive material. Building more plants would create more targets to protect.
  There is an international consensus that spent nuclear fuel should be stored in deep geological disposal sites. However, no country has opened such a site yet. The demise of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada leaves the USA with no plan for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel.
caption: The abandoned city of Prypiat, Ukraine, following the Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is in the background.
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