Arguments against nuclear energy formulated by the Vienna Nuclear Protection Commissioner

• Accidents in nuclear power plants can have disastrous implications. As in the case if Chernobyl, large areas around the site remain unusable forever. Even people living further away from the plant suffer from the after-effects - increased cancer incidence and an unusually high rate of deformities among newborn children - for decades after the incident.
• Nuclear power plants produce radioactive waste, such as spent power rods, part of which must be kept in safe storage for hundreds of thousands of years.
• In total, nuclear energy covers less than three percent of the total global energy demand. Even without increasing this low share, uranium resources will be depleted by the end of this century. Reactors using other types of radioactive material than uranium, such as plutonium or thorium, are much more accident-prone.
• Uranium mining leaves large areas contaminated by radioactive radiation.
• Nuclear waste from power stations can be used as raw materials for nuclear weapons.
• The costs of nuclear energy are borne by the public at large rather than the actual energy producers. Taking into account all costs involved, nuclear power is a costly form of energy.
• The legal framework for nuclear energy creates a lot of exclusive rights for this form of energy and excludes major parts of the population from keeping tabs on the nuclear industry by means of effective and transparent checks.

Further information from the Vienna Ombuds Office for Environmental Protection

• The Chernobyl nuclear disaster (German)