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Nuclear energy advantages
Fossil fuel alternative energy
Nuclear power is beneficial or detrimental
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Energy is fundamental item used in making things work. Plants and animals use it to power their bodies and humans use it to power everything else. The problem happens to be the source in which the energy originates. The energy source used right now is burning coal. It is very dirty and it results in massive CO2 emissions. Scientists are looking for alternative energy resources. One of the sources they discovered is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is “energy stored in the nucleus of an atom” (Office of Nuclear Energy, 30). The idea was first introduced in 1953 by President Dwight Eisenhower as a resolution to the impending coal and oil shortages. Nuclear energy is generated by nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is the process in which radioactive isotopes split apart into smaller atoms. The most common fuel used for nuclear energy is uranium-235 (U235), a radioactive isotope found in most rocks. The process of nuclear fission starts with mining uranium ore. Once the ore is mined, it goes through a purification process. The U235 needs to have a concentration of three percent; it is enough to form a suitable reaction. The now purified U235 is formed into 1.5 cm long pellets that are faintly thicker than a pencil. Fuel assemblies are fashioned out of 100, 4 m long fuel rods containing stacked U235 pellets. A few chiliads of these fuel assemblies are grouped together and settled into a nuclear reactor. Nuclear fission commences as a neutron is thrown into the reactor. The neutron strikes an atom of U235. This releases heat, neutrons, tin, and molybdenum. The newly released neutrons strike more atoms of U235, thus creating a chain reaction. To keep the heat from the reactions from causing a meltdown, water is circulated between the fuel ro... ... middle of paper ... ...Lamb. "How Nuclear Power Works" 09 October 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. 01 December 2013. • N/A. "Energy: What do we want to achieve? - European Commission." Energy: What do we want to achieve? - European Commission. European Commission , n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . • "2012 NEA Annual Report." 2012 NEA Annual Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . • NRC. "List of Power Reactor Units." NRC:. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . • N/A. "Nuclear Power and the Environment." - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy. EIA, 28 June 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. .
Nuclear fission is going to become more and more useful in worldwide power production for the foreseeable future. The reasons are numerous, but can be summarized by the relative ease of reliable power production that is provided. This does not go without having many disadvantages. But it is the fact that nuclear fission provides a massive amount of reliable electrical energy at a relatively low cost that has many countries investigating the possibilities of nuclear power generation. To understand
Persuade Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that they should advocate the use of alternative power sources other than nuclear energy. Central Idea: Nuclear energy only contributes a small amount to the world’s electricity yet it has hazards and dangers that far out-way its benefits. There are many other alternative power producing sources that can produce energy more efficiently and more safely than nuclear power plants can. Organization: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence I. (Gain Attention and
New Energy for the Future For years man has relied on energy in order to be successful in life. The industrial revolution relied on coal for the new inventions brought into the world. Life as has never been the same since then. However since that time, there has been little done to improve on energy efficiency and humans still primarily rely on fossil fuels for energy. For over a hundred years the Earth has become more polluted and dirtier than ever before. Now, with new, innovative technology there
Using Alternative Energy Sources in the U.S. The United States has many directions to choose from in the oncoming future of energy. “Options for the world's energy future may include surprises, thanks to innovative research under way around the world” (LePoire 1). History has shown that surprises can change generations . Since the mid 1900’s, experts have been conducting research on the way our nation has been using energy. The United States have relied on other countries to gain knowledge with
world’s energy will need to come from solar, wind, and other renewable resources” (www.altenergy.org). America can no longer rely so heavily on nuclear energy. America needs to harness the energy found within natural, renewable resources. In fact, nuclear energy needs to be phased out completely because of its negative impact on health, the environment, and its overall cost. Nuclear energy has been proven to have negative effects on the health of nearby residents. The radiation produced by nuclear power
Nuclear energy has been a controversial source of alternative energy since it has been made practical in the 1950s. The goal of nuclear energy was to find a sustainable resource that would be able to replace the use of fossil fuels. Due to the exploitation and finite supply of resources such as oil and coal, an alternative to fossil fuels was needed quickly in order to provide sustainability for the future of the world. A question arises, however, when nuclear energy is considered as a source of
Nuclear power is a technology that has enormous benefits for humankind. As the demand for energy is only continuing to grow, it has become important to develop energy technology that has good yield and minimal negative side effects. After the harnessing of the atom for use in nuclear weapons, the knowledge of how to exploit the atom became incorporated in nuclear power plants (Corradini 1). These use uranium fuel in a process that releases tremendous amounts of energy to be captured, but also
Nuclear power is the usage of nuclear reactions that releases nuclear energy which is especially used to generate electricity. It is considered to be a sustainable source of energy source that reduces the global emissions of greenhouse gases profoundly. Nuclear power stations have begun their operations in the 1950s and to date provides over 11% of the world’s electricity supply. Nuclear technology is mainly used in the production of electricity in nuclear power plants in order for the necessary
Renewable energy is a type of energy source that does not have an ending to it from its consistent replenishing. Differential to fossil fuels that cause harm to the Earth, renewable energy is made from natural sources that don’t cause any harm with carbon dioxide or pollutants. There are four different types of alternative energy: nuclear, solar, wind, hydroelectric. The purpose of this paper is for the reader to better understand the use of alternative energy along with the positive and negative
towards a better future. Alternative sources of energy paves the path to a cleaner generation and a
INTRODUCTION Background Today’s population consumes enormous amounts of energy. Even with the new energy efficient products that are available on today’s market, Stats Canada claims that Canada’s energy demand continues to rise each year. This energy demand growth could be attributed to many causes such as: population growth, dependence on technology, development in under developed world countries. One new alternative energy source that is not getting as much recognition as it should is piezoelectricity
are running out. With the average amount of time it takes for coal to form being 300 billion years, the earth can only renew them so fast. Fossil fuels, like coal and oil take the earth billions of years to reproduce so an effective alternate energy source must be explored. Fossil fuels or crude oil has been around for a long time and can be refined to form a number of products such as gas, gasoline, kerosene, gas oil or diesel. We are also running out of oil which is also a non-renewable resource
I want to address to you is the huge accumulation of nuclear waste. According to, more than 77,000 tons of nuclear waste sit in America’s atomic power plants. Nuclear waste is hazardous to life and it should not sit in a power plant until it is decomposed. Another issue I want to address is the growing need of developing alternative energy sources in the United States. According to, fossil fuels provide more than 80% of the United States energy consumption. The United States has become dependent of
The Three Mile Island disaster occurred on March 28, 1979. The nuclear plant, in the small community of Middleton, PA, experienced a partial meltdown in the Unit 2 reactor. Many factors contributed to the meltdown. Human error, mechanical failure, and communication breakdowns all contributed, as well as, exacerbated the disaster. Over the course of approximately one week, many theories, projections, announcements and media speculation led to widespread public fear and mistrust. Many experts considered
resources comes speculations and debates about alternative energy sources. The world, including the Philippines, is practically dependent on a dwindling non-renewable source of energy. Today, experts are debating about and considering three options: Nuclear, Solar, or Wind Energy. Everyone has been accustomed to the bad image of nuclear energy as a result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents above all others. The popular belief is that radiation from a nuclear meltdown is very harmful to humans and other