As the world’s population skyrockets, the world's poverty rates are ever increasing. The search for clean and reusable energy has become crucial. “About 1 in 8 people live without access to energy. Additionally, almost 3 billion people don't have access to clean fuels for cooking.” While solar, wind and hydroelectric are all viable sources, they have their downsides. However with Nuclear energy, the pros greatly outweigh the Cons. 

“Nuclear energy is considered one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy as it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions during the production of electricity as compared to traditional sources like coal power plants.”   With nuclear energy, the net gain of just one plant can power an entire city of about 500,000 people. “Nuclear fission is nearly 8,000 times more efficient at producing energy than traditional fossil fuels. That’s a considerable amount of energy density. Because nuclear energy is more efficient, it requires less fuel to power the plant and therefore creates less waste as well.” Another advantage is that for maintaining a plant, it is not expensive. The downside of this is that it costs $10 billion to build it. Finally, the plant can make 7000 jobs during construction, and about 800 during operation. 

Most people are against nuclear energy because of various nuclear accidents like the Three mile Island and Chernyoble. Since then, “ The risk of accidents in nuclear power plants is low and declining. The consequences of an accident or terrorist attack are minimal compared with other commonly accepted risks. Radiological effects on people of any radioactive releases can be avoided”. Although they are minimal, a terrorist attack is still possible and very deadly if a group gets their hands on one. The government would have to spend even more money on security to stop one. Additionally, building a plant means giving any country the plant is in, access to nuclear weapons which makes everything even more dangerous. Finally, radioactive waste is still evident and could harm nearby settlements and wildlife. 

However, most of these issues can be solved with Thorium. “Thorium is much more abundant than Uranium, meaning more places will have access to it. In addition, Thorium is much cleaner and less waste will be produced and that waste will be nonradioactive sooner. Finally, it is not possible to build nuclear weapons with thorium so many controversial questions about Iran or North Korea getting reactors will be answered. 

Nuclear energy can play a crucial role in providing the world with safe, clean energy. Despite concerns about meltdowns or disasters, technological advances have been made to avoid those problems. With smart funding, planning, and regulation, nuclear energy can power the world for generations to come.