Nuclear Energy Essay

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Recommended: Effects of the atomic bomb on the world

December 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to make nuclear information available to other countries (snedden 13). A combined 371,762 megawatts were produced in 2012 (Nuclear History Timeline 1). Nuclear energy has it's benefits but is also dangerous. Nuclear energy is dangerous because of nuclear radiation, nuclear meltdowns, and environmental dangers.

German chemist Martin Klaproth discovered uranium in 1789 (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). Albert Einstein in 1905 discovers theory of E=mc2. In 1939 Hahn and Strassman show developments in harnessing nuclear fission (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). They showed that fission not only released a lot of energy but also released additional neutrons which led to a greater release of energy (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). British and US scientists concentrated on fission of U-235 which would lead to a new element of mass U-239 an atomic number of 94 in which would lead them to discover neptunium #93 and plutonium #94 which was based off the finding of the uranium element (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). Harnessing energy from this was the main intention in 1945 (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1).

The atomic bomb development most focused on through 1939 to 1945. The Manhattan Project was the creation and testing of the first atomic bomb, 1942-1945 (“Nuclear History Timeline” 1). The first atomic device was successfully tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945 (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). The first use of the atomic bomb is on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. After Germany's defeat in 1945, German scientists were recruited to work in a joint effort bomb program (“Outline History of Nuclear Energy” 1). In 1954, the Sov...

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...sion or computer in a lifetime than living next to a power plant (Snedden 5). A meltdown such as Fukushima, a plume could affect a radius of more than 50 miles around (“What if the Fukushima nuclear fallout crisis had happened here?” 1). This would make the area uninhabitable for generations. The possibility of a core meltdown in the US is about 50% in a 20 year period (Snedden 5). The US modeled their own fallout areas and mapped them in 2011 to determine their 50 mile zones (“What if the Fukushima nuclear fallout crisis had happened here?” 1).

Nuclear power can be dangerous to our surroundings and us as people. The "Atoms for peace" was created to make the use of nuclear energy peaceful. Germany said in June 2000, they would start getting rid of nuclear power plants. The US could become more innovative and start ruling out Nuclear power plants themselves.

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