The world is caught between diminishing energy resources and increasing climate change. Countries around the world (like Russia, China, India, South Korea, France, UK, USA) with their growing population highlight how important the demand for energy is fueling the global economy. If this demand is met by the massive carbon emissions from fossil fuels, then we are headed to a climate Armageddon. The most realistic solution for this exponential demand is nuclear energy. The use of nuclear energy will provide sufficient energy to power economies without the need to cause global warming. In a study taken by the World’s Nuclear Industry Association, discovered that only 18% of American, 31% Russian, 16% Chinese, and 17% British citizens knew what nuclear energy was (World Nuclear Association). Sadly, how can we find a solution to an epidemic as global warming when the vast population of the most dominant countries in the world has absolutely no clue what the cure is? In the simplest explanation, nuclear energy is when power plants split uranium atoms in a process called fission. The fission process generates heat, which is then transferred into electricity. By a single kilogram (equivalent to 2.2 pounds) of uranium can generate enough electricity as 200 barrels (8,400 gallons) of oil or even 20,000 kilogram (44,092 pounds) of coal (World Nuclear Association). These numbers are striking because it sheds light that if this energy source is so great then why is a large number of the world not using it? This is an incredible question that will be answered. The individuals that do have knowledge of what Nuclear energy is, have this still ignorant idea that because of a few past accidents that the use of this type of energy is pred... ... middle of paper ... ...Cited Kloor, Keith. "Can Nuclear Energy Really Solve Climate Change?" Slate Magazine. N.p., 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. "Environment: Emissions Prevented." Environment: Emissions Prevented. Nuclear Energy Institute, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. "Projected Costs of Generating Electricity." Http://www.oecd-nea.org/. International Energy Agency and World Nuclear Energy Agency, 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. Russell, Geoff, and Barry Brook. "Brave New Climate." Brave New Climate. University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute., 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. "Is Nuclear Power Safe for Humans and the Environment?" ProConorg Headlines. The US Environmental Protection Agency, The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Energy Institute, 7 May 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. "Supply of Uranium." Uranium Supplies:. World Nuclear Association, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
Nuclear power has grown to be a big percentage of the world’s energy. As of January 18, 2013 in 31 countries 437 nuclear power plant units with an installed electric net capacity of about 372 GW are in operation and 68 plants with an installed capacity of 65 GW are in 15 countries under construction. As of end 2011 the total electricity production since 1951 amounts to 69,760 billion kWh. The cumulative operating experience amounted to 15, 15,080 years by end of 2012. (European Nuclear Society) The change that nuclear power has brought to the world has led to benefits in today’s energy’s usage.
Nuclear power may lead to some extensive breakthroughs in multiple fields for better or for worse in the case of humanity and its survival. It’s a topic that people need to take a bit more seriously as it holds the chance to make or break the future for earth and its inhabitants. Greater risks have greater rewards and as observance of nuclear products and ideas deepen then so do the products yield, perhaps into infinity. While nuclear power is accompanied by several risks, it can also be the solution for various global strains and difficulties. Sufficient energy for the world is a huge goal to tackle and requires the use of any efficient resource we have, especially when the source has so much potential.
After the United States developed the atomic at the end of World War II, interest in nuclear technology increased exponentially. People soon realized that nuclear technology could be used for electricity, as another alternative to fossil fuels. Today, nuclear power has its place in the world, but there is still a lot of controversy over the use of nuclear energy. Things such as the containment of radiation and few nuclear power plant accidents have given nuclear power a bad image. However, nuclear power is a reliable source of energy because it has no carbon emissions, energy is available at any time, little fuel is needed for a lot of energy, and as time goes on, it is becoming safer and safer.
“Face it. Nukes are the most climate-friendly industrial-scale form of energy” (Power, Reiss, Pearlstein, 655). This statement is what I’m trying to promote through my argument. It also ties Inconvenient Truths: 10 Green Heresies by Matt Powers, Spencer Reiss, and Jonanna Pearlstein and Nuclear Power is Best Energy Source: Potchef Stroom together by bring out the main point all authors are trying to get across. Global warming has been a big concern for years now and one of the biggest causes for it, is the burning of fossil fuels to get energy. People that live in the United States of America use a huge amount of energy in their daily lives and that amount continues to grow with our population growing with it. My purpose of this piece is to persuade people to switch to nuclear power for a cleaner energy source because it’s the cleanest energy source.
The world is facing an energy crisis and many are unaware of this growing problem. Sustainability is avoiding depletion of our natural resources in order to provide for future generations, and the only way to ensure that resources are available into the future is to find alternative sources to meet the world’s energy needs. Nuclear energy is just one source of alternative energy being implemented today in an effort to support the needs of the population and mitigate global climate change. Nuclear energy holds the necessary benefits in order to continue being used globally as an alternative solution.
Media coverage of such cases have made the public less comfortable with the idea of moving further towards nuclear power and they only opt for reducing human activities to reduce global warming. It is true that there have been some notable disasters involving nuclear power, but compared to other power systems, nuclear power has an impressive track record. First, it is less harmful and second, it will be able to cater for the growing world population. Nuclear power produces clean energy and it delivers it at a cost that is competitive in the energy market (Patterson). According to the US Energy Information Administration, there are currently 65 such plants in the Unite States (National Research Council). They produce 19 percent of the total US energy generation.
The Web. 04 Feb. 2014 -. The Effects of Global Warming. National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web.
Something always curious and provoking happens in science writing. Gwyneth Cravens is an author of five novels and many publications, and one who studies a topic in great detail. She creates an enormous work about nuclear energy for the last decade. Cravens’s research in her last published book titled Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy has led her to do an about-face on the issue. In her article “Better Energy” which was published in May 2008 in Discover magazine, she disputes and claims that nuclear energy is currently best alternative and should be considered as our future energy source. At the beginning “Better Energy” she commences by introducing James Lovelock, who was greatly honored in the green movement for creating the Gaia hypothesis, which combines everything on earth as entirely organic. In the past Lovelock opposed nuclear energy. Unfortunately, to his fans, he changed his views beginning to support nuclear energy. Throughout the article Cravens goes with the explanation how the use of nuclear energy will be able to soft issue about global warming. Current fossil fuel power plants cause serious health problems in thousands of Americans, furthermore, continue to drive the warming. She tries to prove to the audience that currently there is no possibility that U.S. nation can use any of renewable energy sources such as the wind and sun (in which she looks to find common with public views about this case), and that nuclear energy is safe, and this is the best option to get the necessary amount of needed energy.
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There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
The use of nuclear energy has increased in the United States since 1973. Nuclear energy's share of U.S. electricity generation has grown from 4 percent in 1973 to 19 percent in 1998. This is excellent news for the environment. Nuclear energy and hydropower are the cleanest large-scale means of electricity production. Since nuclear power plants do not burn fuel, they emit no combustion byproducts—like carbon dioxide—into the atmosphere (www.nei.org). Nuclear power can come from the fission of Uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Today uranium (U-235 and U-238) is most commonly used in the production of nuclear energy. The expa...
World Nuclear Association. (2014). Nuclear Power in the World Today.Available: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Nuclear-Power-in-the-World-Today/. Last accessed 25th April 2014.
Solomon, S. (Ed.). (2007). Climate change 2007-the physical science basis: Working group I contribution to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC (Vol. 4, pg 501). Cambridge University Press.
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The greatest disadvantages of nuclear energy are the risks posed to mankind and the environment by radioactive materials. ‘On average a nuclear plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel cla...