Argumentative Essay On Nuclear Waste

“There are 61 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 99 nuclear reactors in 30 states in the United States” (U.S Energy Information Administration). An energy crisis is going on right now. This crisis includes the consumption of fossil fuels that leave the world free of pollution, while still creating the same amount of energy. The idea of using nuclear energy came around the 1960’s as countries who were involved in World War II needed to get an upper hand on weapons, specifically bombs. This was made possible when german scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman fired neutrons into uranium 235, which in turn led to the discovery of a self-sustaining chain reaction. This experiment led to the creation of the atomic bomb and the nuclear

It is true that nuclear power plants leave behind radioactive waste, but this waste is not very dangerous as a whole. Over time, this waste decays naturally, unlike coal power plants which have a lasting impact on the environment. This waste is relatively easy to clean up since it doesn’t enter the atmosphere like other pollutants and the companies that produce the waste are required to clean it up. There are many regulations on these power plants like the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, which says that it is the “Federal Government’s responsibility to provide a place for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, and the generators’ responsibility to bear the cost of permanent disposal”(Governing Legislation). Many of these laws help keep the environment and the people safe around the nuclear power plant. The Superfund Act also requires that the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) label nuclear power plants by level of waste. This helps ensure that these areas get cleaned up first, so minimal damage can be done to the people surrounding it. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a government organization that helps update the structure of nuclear power plants and redesigns them so they are safer. Radioactive waste is constantly hitting people from their cell phones and from the sun, so there is

To put this into perspective, all of Africa’s emissions were 1206 million metric tons. This decrease in emissions by the United States is mainly due to the use of nuclear energy along with alternative energies like wind, solar, etc. Nuclear power plants provides more wattage of energy than coal power plants do. In fact, a nuclear power plant provides more energy using a 1,000-megawatt reactor at 90 percent for a year, by 100 million kWh (kilowatt-hours) when compared to a coal power plant using a 1,000-megawatt reactor at 90 percent for a year (US Nuclear). According to EIA, the average energy use per household in 10,932 kWh. This extra energy would be enough to power 914,457 households, which is enough to power 12.67 cities the size of San Ramon, CA. This energy can be used to save money along with the environment. Carbon dioxide is the biggest greenhouse gas, in that it traps the most infrared radiation out of all greenhouse gases. This is turn cause the surface of the Earth to heat up, which causes many environmental impacts like ice melting, migrations patterns being different, and biome changes. Many people have the idea that global warming is caused by the gap in the ozone layer in the stratosphere, but they are wrong. The gap itself only allows more infrared