Should nuclear power be used as the main source of energy? This is a very controversial topic that will be discussed here. People from both sides of this issue all care about the environment, but have different opinions on nuclear energy. Before getting into the debate, it is important to know how nuclear power plants work. The nuclear reactor, which is usually twelve meters tall, is enclosed in a dome like building made up of meter thick reinforced concrete walls. Nuclear fission produces heat which is used to heat up water which then turns into steam. The steam then turns turbines that are connected to generators which in turn produce electricity. The steam then goes through a condenser where it is turned back into liquid and goes back into the reaction chamber to repeat the process. So the question that faces everyone is: should nuclear power be used as the main source of energy? Some say yes, because nuclear energy is clean energy that does not pollute the air, it is safer and cheaper than any other method; yet others say no, because the capital costs are too high, they produce nuclear waste if there is an accident, the consequences are disastrous. There are six authors that will be mentioned in this paper. Three of the authors are for nuclear energy and three of them are against nuclear energy. The first three authors that will be introduced are for nuclear energy. Naim H. Afgan is a professor at the Superior Technical Institute in Lisbon, Portugal and the Chair Holder for the Energy Sustainable Management. He is also a member of the VINCA Institute of Nuclear Science that is in Belgrade that he joined in 1957. He published over 200 papers, including his article on nuclear energy that will be used in this paper. The next au... ... middle of paper ... ...at does the world want to gain and what is it willing to give up? Works Cited Afgan, Naim H. "Sustainable Nuclear Energy Dilemma." Thermal Science 17.2 (2013): 305-321. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Lucas, Caroline. "Why We Must Phase out Nuclear Power." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Lynas, Mark, and Peter A. Bradford. "Should the World Increase Its Reliance on Nuclear Energy?" The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 8 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Moniz, Ernest J. "MIT Energy Initiative." Why We Still Need Nuclear Power. MIT.edu, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Romm, Joe. The Self-Limiting Future of Nuclear Power. N.p.: American Progress Action, Jun. 2008. PDF. 25 Feb. 2014 "The Economics of Nuclear Power." Nuclear Power Economics. World Nuclear Association, Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels have been used up by society on a daily basis and have forced the world to find a new, clean energy source. The rising price of oil and the constant emission of carbon dioxide are proof that in the future our lives will be much harder to live. One answer to this problem is nuclear power, which has shown its efficiency during the times of World War II but has not been used commercially due to the challenges of dealing with nuclear waste and proliferation. In today?s modern era, nuclear power has been used in liquid metal fast breeder reactors, reactors that use uranium-238 to produce plutonium-239.
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.
Stieglitz, R & Docksai, R, 2009 ‘Why the World May Turn to Nuclear Power’ The Futurist, pp. 17-22.
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.
Nuclear energy is a tricky topic. At first thought, the word nuclear tends to throw some for a loop, flashing images of deadly “nukes” and atom bombs in their heads. However, nuclear energy can offer a wide array of benefits that can realistically solve the growing energy crisis our planet will soon face, not to mention the many rewards that nuclear research can lead to. As fossil fuels slowly get burned away, where will we turn to next? Yes, there are several renewable sources of energy that can help, but none that are a clean everyday-everywhere solution. Unfortunately, nuclear power is not without its own issues, as no source of energy is perfect. Nuclear energy can be wildly beneficial, both as an energy source and research port, but at what cost?
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.
The purpose of this report is to investigate the different views and opinions on the safeness and cost effectiveness of nuclear power compared to other forms of energy. This report will explain the issues and background of the debate, the importance of the issue, and the parties who are involved in this debate with their thoughts.
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.
Folke, L., & Burnette, H.S. (2005, March 28). Burning bright:nuclear energy's futute. Retrieved from http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba511/
“Every dollar spent on nuclear energy is one less dollar spent on clean renewable energy and one more dollar spent on making the world a comparatively dirtier and a more dangerous place, because nuclear power and nuclear weapons go hand in hand” (Jacobson). Most countries today are becoming more and more dependent on nuclear power as a source of energy because of its high energy output and the availability of uranium used for fuelling nuclear reactors that generate power to provide electricity in households. Although using nuclear power as a source of energy has benefits like this, the danger posed by using nuclear power is too ominous.
Thesis: Nuclear power is a powerful and dangerous source of energy, but it depends on how people choice to use it.
McLeish, Ewan. “The Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power”. New York: Rosen Central, 2008. Print.
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.
Adamantiades, A., and I. Kessides. "Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Future Prospects." Energy Policy (2009). ScienceDirect. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
Stieglitz, Richard, and Rick Docksai. "Why the World May Turn to Nuclear Power: Demand for Fossil Fuels May Decline, but Demand for Electric Power Will Soar. Nuclear Power, Resisted by Many, May Provide a Long-term Solution, and It Has Come a Long Way since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl." The Futurist 1 Nov. 2009: 1+. Print.