Nuclear power has been a significant source of energy in many parts of the world since the 1950's but it seems that many people still have this ideology that nuclear power will never be safe and worth its weight on the environment. In fact, Nuclear power is one of the only human "created" innovation that has the potential to power the human race and Earth for millennium to come, possibly to even power our expansion off of Earth. In terms of fission and fusion, fission is what most power plants use as the reactant. Fusion is the hardest to manipulate because nuclear fusion is difficult and hard to contain. Scientists must overcome these problems before nuclear fusion can be used as a routine energy source. Nuclear Plants hold many different advantages. .
In terms of saving the environment from the havoc fossil fuels has brought upon it, nuclear energy is the cheapest, low carbon energy source available. These nuclear plants are more cost effective then those that burn fossil fuels. They produce vast amounts of energy with little fuel. It is said that nuclear power plants that use nuclear fission and uranium as its source produce radioactive waste that has a half-life of only days (McInnes). These power plants are very safe and very effective. There have been less than 10 reported malfunctions and meltdowns in the past 60 years. With the cost efficiency of this type of energy, it is projected in being the lowest cost means of generating electrical energy.
The use of nuclear fuels can grow significantly to offer energy for the deep future. "There is no assurance how long coals will last" (Arthur Standish). A typical nuclear reactor uses about two hundred tons of uranium fuels annually while; a coal power plant would require three million tons of coal to produce the same energy. With that being said, this energy has the almost sorcerous property that it can potentially produce its own fuel.