How can nuclear power plants harm the environment?
Nuclear power plants in the US cannot harm the environment. The US requires nuclear power plants to have containment structures. As a result, no accident within the containment structure can release harmful amounts of radiation or radioactive materials to the environment. Three Mile Island experienced a partial core meltdown in one of the reactors in 1979. No harm to the environment occurred because it was contained within the reactor building. A small amount of radioactive gas was released, but this was not harmful to the environment. There are people who want you to believe that any radiation released is bad. This is not true because we are surrounded by small amounts of radiation all the time. When we fly in a plane, we are exposed to slightly more radiation, but it doesn’t harm us. People who live in cities that are at high elevations like Denver, Colorado are exposed to slightly more radiation that people who live in lower elevations. This is within normal variation and the enviro