IELTS Writing Task 2: Environment — Discuss Both Views Sample Answer

Nuclear energy occupies a contested position in debates about decarbonisation, with passionate advocates citing its reliability and carbon-free credentials while opponents emphasise its costs, risks, and waste management challenges. Both perspectives deserve careful consideration.

Supporters of nuclear power argue that it provides a unique combination of attributes that renewables alone cannot reliably match. Unlike solar and wind generation, nuclear plants produce consistent baseload power regardless of weather conditions, making them valuable for grid stability. France generates over 70% of its electricity from nuclear sources and has one of Western Europe's lowest per-capita carbon footprints and electricity prices. Modern reactor designs — including passive safety systems and small modular reactors currently under development — address many of the reliability concerns that accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima raised.

Opponents raise several weighty objections. The capital costs of new nuclear plants have escalated dramatically in Western countries, with projects in the UK, USA, and Finland consistently exceeding budgets and timelines by substantial margins. Radioactive waste remains hazardous for tens of thousands of years, and no country has yet opened a permanent geological disposal facility, meaning generations far in the future will inherit a management problem. Public fear, whether or not it is proportionate to the statistical risk, also creates political obstacles that slow deployment and increase financing costs.

In my view, nuclear energy deserves a role in a diversified low-carbon energy system — particularly in countries with limited renewable resources or high energy density requirements — but should not be positioned as a primary solution when wind and solar are now consistently cheaper and faster to deploy.