Advantages And Disadvantages Of Nuclear Power An Energy For The Future

Nuclear power plants have many advantages and disadvantages that must be weighed when comparing it to

Nuclear power plants are a safe, clean and reliable source of energy production. They are uniquely qualified to meet the growing demand for energy in the USA.

The use of fossil fuels as a primary source of power is poisoning our world, and nuclear power is just the way to stop this. Nuclear power is using the process of nuclear fission to create electricity. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a uranium atom to release massive amounts of energy. When this process takes place in a nuclear reactor, the energy is used to superheat water which is pumped through pipes also submerged in water which then boils. The pressurized water vapor is used to turn turbines that produce electricity. Nuclear power is one of the cleanest, safest, most reliable and economically beneficial sources of power, and it needs to be considered as a substitute for fossil fuels. Nuclear power unfortunately has been given a bad name, but is actually an important resource that should be utilized by the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The advantage of of Nuclear Power is that it doesn’t depend on fossil fuels and is not affected by the erratic oil and gas prices. Coal and natural gas in other power plants emit carbon dioxide, whereas nuclear power plants emit minimal carbon dioxide. Nuclear fission produces a million times more energy per unit weight than fossil fuel alternatives.

Nuclear power provided 11 percent of the world 's electricity production in 2014. In 2016, 13 countries relied on nuclear energy to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity.

According to Community Science Action Guides, nuclear power plants are cheaper to run, require smaller area than its competitors, and produce the most energy than environmental impact ratio. Nuclear power plants should be used in the United States based on three reasons: spatial area/location of use, cost efficiency, and environment friendly. To prove that nuclear power plants is a better energy solution, it will be compared to other major energy resources such as wind turbines, solar farms, dams, and biomass technologies.

As the demands for energy increases, the United States needs to determine how it is going to meet the need. A range of options is needed for future generations and nuclear power is one suitable option. As with any option, it comes with its strengths and weaknesses. Presently, sixty-six percent of the United States energy comes from fossil fuel, while only nineteen percent comes from nuclear power; however, fickle oil prices are a sign that the era of abundant and cheap transportation fuel is ending. As the global necessity for electricity rises, the United States needs to turn to nuclear power as their solution.

Nuclear power plants provide a stable base load of energy. This can work synergistic with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The electricity production from the plants can be lowered when good wind and solar resources are available and cranked up when the demand is high.

Nuclear power produces huge amount of energy through nuclear fission. 1 ton of uranium fuel, which is used as a fuel in generating electricity, equals to 50,000 tons of fossil fuels for generating the same amount of electricity. Since a small amount of nuclear fuel can produce a large amount of energy, it is powerful and efficient.

Nuclear power is expensive to build, expensive to maintain, and expensive to replace if something goes wrong. One facility in a multiple facility plant can cost up to $9 billion dollars to build, and more money to maintain. The whole world will require many nuclear power plants to provide energy, which will be expensive. If completed it will reduce pollution, but not fix the pollution

The positives to having nuclear power plants is that unlike fossil fuel power plants it doesn't contribute to global warming and therefore climate change. This is due to the fact that it doesn't diffuse carbon dioxide into the environment. The Uranium mined from Uranium ores can last for a long time unlike fossil fuels, which don't last forever. Also, nuclear power plants don't emit harmful, polluting gases such as Nitrogen Oxide and Sulfur Oxide. These gases, as mentioned earlier, can harm people and the environment. Altogether, these positive points form nuclear power plants as a safe and reliable way to generate the electricity. The negatives, however, counteract these. The negatives of a nuclear power plant are made up of both issues and risks. Issues that may arise include the limitation of non-renewable sources such as Uranium (fuel used in reactor), how difficult it is to safely dispose of the produced radioactive waste through storage, importing the nuclear fuel Uranium and the time and costs of building and decommissioning nuclear power plants. Like most issues, there are many ways to counteract most of these. The limitation of Uranium-235 is due to the fact that it only makes up around 1% of all the mined natural Uranium in the world. Mined natural Uranium mostly consists of Uranium-238, an isotope. However, Uranium can last for a long period. Uranium in the fuel rods can undergo nuclear fission for 18-24 months. Therefore a small amount can last a long time. To safely dispose of the radioactive by-product produced by the nuclear fission of Uranium-235, it goes through a process of vitrification. This process mixes the radioactive by-product with ceramic materials and is then melted to produce a type of glass. This glass in the form of liquid is poured into cylinders of steel, is then cooled and sealed securely. The steel

As each year passes, more and more electricity will be made as a result of increased nuclear power plants around the world. The economic benefits of nuclear energy are equally advantageous as the environmental aspects.

The world's natural resources are being consumed at an alarming rate. As these resources diminish, people will be seeking alternative sources by which to generate electricity for heat and light. The only practical short-term solution for the energy/pollution crisis should be nuclear power because it is available, cleaner and safer.

Nuclear energy is a very debatable issue in the world today because of it’s potential good and potential bad. There are many benefits of nuclear energy and it’s uses and that is why it is a great method for generating electricity. Nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is the energy released in the nucleus of an atom during nuclear fission or fusion, and it also uses the fuel which makes from processed uranium and mined to generate electricity. There are some advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy. Firstly, the advantages are considered. It has the low pollution because the amount of greenhouse gases has reduces significantly as a result of the prevalence of nuclear power. It is also have the small effect on natural systems. Nuclear energy uses energy power to make inexpensive electricity, which is a quite low operating cost owing to the low of utilizable uranium. A nuclear power plant does not have constraints and it can run without disruption in climatic condition, it also has a stable base load of energy which can work with renewable energy sources. Nuclear energy in non-renewable source, besides it is potential sustainability by using fusion reactors and breeder reactors. As far as disadvantages are concerned, one of the important problems is environment impact. This problem is caused by uranium. Nuclear energy also has a high cost because it uses a large amount of investment to establish a nuclear power plant. Another drawback of nuclear energy is nuclear accidents; the radioactive waste can cause the environment and health problems on the human life. For example, The Chernobyl accident in Ukraine happened on 26th April 1986 which