Environmental and human health impact evaluation of nuclear power plant by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Indonesia

As the world’s population and industry grows on, energy needs keep increasing, while fossil fuel amounts decrease down. Renewable energy answers, with nuclear power for instance, have become more popular, consistent along with the Sustainable Development Goals and Indonesia’s net-zero carbon emissions goal. A large amount of power can be created yearly using nuclear energy, which has the capacity to handle greater electricity needs through efficiency. It fundamentally does not emit any exhaust gases at the source, unlike normal power plants. However, ecological effects during uranium mining for electricity production occur. These production-related effects extend throughout the entire cycle. This specific study assesses the overall ecological effect from a 500 MW Nuclear Power Plant proposed throughout Indonesia through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results point to a global warming potential reaching 0.3624 kg CO₂-eq/kWh, along with an acidification effect of 0.00352 kg SO₂-eq/kWh as well as a eutrophication of 0.000916 kg PO₄3 − -eq/kWh. Additionally, several ecotoxicity effects are frequently seen across terrestrial (5.8 × 10− 6 kg 1,4-DB-eq/kWh), marine (1.2 × 10− 4 kg 1,4-DB-eq/kWh), and freshwater (1.3 × 10− 4 kg 1,4-DB-eq/kWh) environments. These ecotoxicity effects are widely observed. This study also assesses potential human health effects, along with estimating roughly 2.36 × 10− 8 asthma cases per person-years as well as approximately 6.84 × 10− 1 2 cancer risks per person-years, in addition to nearly 1.84 × 10− 9 COPD cases per person-years. The results indicate that even though a Nuclear Power Plant substantially cuts direct pollution, uranium extraction and fuel refinement further add to ecological problems. By comprehensively dealing with these multiple effects from effects, this certain study underscores the overall potential from a nuclear plant to act as a clean, efficient energy source for all, supporting Indonesia’s national energy security while aligning with its specific sustainability goals on progress.