Benefits

•  Nuclear power is not affected by the looming shortage of fossil fuels.

• Nuclear fission does not emit CO2, SO2, CO or particulates into the atmosphere.

• The reactor industry is studying ways to produce more reliable, less expensive, and safer reactors.

• Breeder technology makes nuclear energy a renewable resources that may allow nuclear resources to last up to 50,000 years.

• Nuclear fusion power offers the prospect of an inexhaustible energy source for future, but so far it presents insurmountable scientific and engineering challenges.

• With current technology, the most feasible fusion reaction is between the nuclei of the two heavy isotopes of hydrogen – deuterium (D) and tritium (T). (Each D-T fusion event releases 17.6 MeV compared with 200 MeV for a U-235 fission)

Criticisms 

•  High upfront and capital costs as well as operation & maintenance.

• The negative perception of nuclear power stems from its relationship to nuclear weapons and the serious accidents that have occurred with radioactive material and nuclear facilities.

• No new orders have been placed for reactors by the public utilities in the United States since 1978. Legal liabilities, stringent regulatory procedures and radioactive waste storage problems have added to the negative sentiment of nuclear energy.

• Currently, however, the world does not have a sustainable method for storing radioactive waste.