Positive Effects of Nuclear Power The use of nuclear power in the mid-1980s was not a popular idea on account of all the fears that it had presented. The public seemed to have rejected it because of the fear of radiation. The Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union in April of 1986 reinforced the fears, and gave them an international dimension (Cohen 1). Nevertheless, the public has to come to terms that one of the major requirements for sustaining human progress is an adequate source of energy. The current largest sources of energy are the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas. Fear of radiation may push nuclear power under the carpet but another fear of the unknown is how costly is this going to be? If we as the public have to overcome the fear of radiation and costly project, we first have to understand the details of nuclear energy. The known is a lot less scary then the unknown. If we could put away all the presumptions we have about this new energy source, then maybe we can understand that this would be a good decision for use in the near future. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...rought up for the substitute of nuclear energy, will also work but it is not much developed yet except for special circumstances because of its high cost. If we can get over the fear of the worst case scenario but only then could we appreciate the good of nuclear energy and how it will help us. Now that the misinterpretations have been explained maybe understanding the most certain future in nuclear energy is not that unrealistic. Bibliography: Bibliography Cohen, Bernard L. The Nuclear Energy Option. Plenum Press. New York. 1990. Gofman, John W. An Irreverent Illustrated View of Nuclear Responsibility. CA. 1979. Rhodes, Richard. Nuclear Renewal. Penguin Group. NY. 1993. Nuclear Energy and The Environment Nuclear Energy Institute. 1998. http://www.nei.org/library/facts.html
Nuclear power is a growing source of energy to most of the world for many benefits. People doubt the significant of nuclear power because of one accident. Due to this accident, the world has only seen the flaws in nuclear power and not the many benefits it has to offer. Nuclear power would benefit worldwide if people would let go of the past and look towards the future. Nuclear power is a better alternative energy because of its economic and environmental benefits.
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.
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.
Nuclear energy is produced during the process named nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. The development of nuclear energy started in the 20th century and there is now worldwide recognition for using nuclear energy. Popular countries that operates nuclear power are United States, France, Japan, and Russia, the nuclear energy generates up to 6% of the world’s electricity supplies. Even though the energy is mostly used by many countries, but it may causes side effect to the living things in the environment. (WNA, 2012)
Nuclear power is generated by using electricity created during a controlled fission or fusion reaction (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). Nuclear fission is a process that releases energy when a nucleus in one atom is separated into two nuclei. Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms are fused together producing a larger nuclei along with energy (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection). In the 1950s, the use of nuclear power became a realistic idea for countries with nuclear capabilities and nuclear power programs (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). The international nuclear program grew rapidly and by 1999 there were 436 nuclear power plants in 32 different counties. The United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, India and France remain the largest users of nuclear energy since the 1990s; however, the dependency on nuclear power varies greatly around the world because of differences in the individual nuclear power programs availability of needed resources (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection).
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.
Throughout history we have seen a few nuclear disasters in both war and peace;¬¬ all of which have had a lasting impact on the societies near them. The largest nuclear power accident of all has been the one that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, but there have been many accidents that have occurred across the globe like the Mayak Plant Accident in 1957, the Three-Mile-Island Accident in 1979 and the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station Accident in 2011. Although these nuclear accidents are uncommon, their effects can be felt for many lifetimes, which is why nuclear power plants should be constructed further from human population centers. Nuclear power has been a touchy subject for many years. Ever since the bombing of Hiroshima and the later bombing of Nagasaki, people have yet to place their full confidence in nuclear energy because of the death toll it has the possibility of claiming if a critical failure or malfunction would occur.
Our earth is the only one we have so shouldn't we take care of it? Well, we have not been. Almost everything we do to produces energy has some effect on our earth. Usually, it's not good. For the past 10 years we have been producing some of the most incredible technology imaginable, but it has been at a cost to to something much greater. If we continue to use natural gas and oil to fuel our power plants to produce energy we will kill our earth.we as antaion like to believe that we are diverse when it comes to how we produce electricity, but we aren't. A far high majority of it is from natural gas/fossil fuels/crude oil. One may see the occasional wind farm or solar panel array around but that has virtually no effect on the overall picture.
Nuclear Power, The generation of power using highly radiated uranium pellets in fuel rods used to heat up water and run turbines. This is why Congressman Bill Nelson should not support the building of a new nuclear power plant in the state of Florida.
Note that nuclear energy is another alternate fuel source, which would be like a really expensive Prius that sometimes leaks radiation when it suffers a major breakdown. Which is a scary thought because many Prius owners don’t even know how to change a flat tire.
U-235, an isotope of Uranium, can be used in a fission bomb due to the fact that when its nucleus splits it gives off additional neutrons which may hit other uranium nuclei, causing them to split. This then creates a chain reaction and is why only small masses of uranium are required to release substantial amounts of energy (Bitesize, 2017). The most infamous example of how uranium has been used in this way, is the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima (Atomic Heritage Foundation, n.d.). The same properties that allow uranium to be used in a bomb, are valued in the world of nuclear energy. Nuclear power stations use energy from uranium to produce electricity and this production accounts for approximately 11 percent of the world’s electricity (Environmental protection Agency, 2016). Such uses are the main drivers for uranium exports and support the uranium industry in Australia, influencing social, economic and political aspects of
Utilitarianism—the philosophy that the moral option creates the most good for the most amount of people—is the most common lens for creating policy. Carbon pollution and man-caused climate change are slowly killing our planet and we are not effectively neutralizing it. Although common belief dictates it is bad for the environment, Nuclear Power is inherently good due to its efficiency, overall safety, multi-purposes, and independence from carbon emissions. Subsequently, Nuclear is the clear solution to our overreliance on fossil fuels and manmade climate change and should be utilized until Solar and Wind power can compete.
Nuclear energy is the energy from the fission or fusing of nuclear atoms, the most common being uranium atoms. This energy source is the largest provider of carbon-free emissions for creating electricity. Being such a reliable energy source, it's no surprise that there are already states and countries relying on nuclear energy to provide a large percentage of their energy needs. Nuclear plants also only need to stop producing energy every 18-24 months, and that's just to refuel. Many brilliant minds approve of nuclear energy and there are studies ongoing to make this energy source even more eco-friendly, reliable, and accessible. Nuclear energy plants currently provide 20% of America's energy needs currently, and that amount should definitely be increased in the next decade.
Nuclear power, the use of exothermic nuclear processes to produce an enormous amount of electricity and heat for domestic, medical, military and industrial purposes i.e. “By the end of 2012 2346.3 kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity was generated by nuclear reactors around the world” (International atomic energy agency Vienna, 2013, p.13). However, with that been said it is evident that the process of generating electricity from a nuclear reactor has numerous health and environmental safety issues.
As one of the greatest alternatives to fossil fuels, an important advantage of nuclear energy is the significantly lower emission rate of CO2 in comparison to plants which use coal and natural gas.2 Nuclear power is not reliant on fossil fuels and therefore producing energy by this method reduces pollution and the contribution to climate change. However, whilst the actual process of generating energy releases few emissions, uranium must be mined and purified and in the past this has not always been an environmentally clean process.2 Ultimately, uranium will one day run out, but nuclear reactors are versatile and may also run on Thorium. Despite being finite, this would allow nuclear power stations to function for a longer period of time.