Age Of Nuclear Power Essay

The filmmakers’ main ideas are that the government misled and lied to the people of the U.S. so that they would believe that the atomic bomb would have no effect on their health and security, that we should question if the government should have lied to the American people, and to make us question whether or not the citizens of the U.S. would continue to be as naive as the people of the 1950’s.

Nuclear energy is the world's largest source of emission-free energy. Nuclear power plants produce no controlled air pollutants, such as sulfur and particulates, or greenhouse gases. "Renewables" like solar, wind and biomass can help. But only nuclear power offers clean, environmentally friendly energy on a massive scale. The use of nuclear energy in place of other energy sources helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate, avoid ground-level ozone formation and prevent acid rain. “Currently, there are 103 commercial nuclear power plants producing electricity in the United States, located at 64 sites in 31 states. They are, on average, 24 years old, and

They came, unwarned. On the 7th of December 1941, the Japanese executed a full-fledged attack on Pearl Harbor. They mercilessly created havoc, with attacks that caused the sinking of eighteen American ships, as well as 170 aircrafts. The casualties were dreadful, with 1,177 of those lost lives had been of the crewmen. The very next day, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, and thus the United States’ involvement of World War II. Americans of every state were absolutely enraged and bent on their will for vengeance against the Asian country. Within the shadows of galvanized America, Robert Oppenheimer had set his infamous Manhattan Project into action. This project was so disclosed that only a limited number of men truly knew of its purpose. The clandestine project held prior securities to the point in which famous scientists had to use codenames in order to visit Los Alamos, even wives were kept in the dark, and only key scientists could bring their wives along with them. (Source D) This project had been the discreet creation of the Atomic Bombs. Time and time again, this topic had never really dissipated, its controversial who, what and whys prompting generations to debate its palpable purpose. Was the aim really focused for the “good of all?” Was it for America’s self-preservation and wish to promptly put an end to all of the suffering? Many Americans to this day still believe and argue for the usefulness of the atomic bombings, that the droppings were justified.

America’s use of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities also opened the door to other countries challenging them through their own use of nuclear bombs. Many have criticized that the atomic bomb was an act of “muscle flexing” due to the sheer power and destruction caused by the decision to drop the two bombs. (Nicholls, 67). Not only were these bombs a demonstration of the power that these nuclear weapons had, but they were a testament of power that the United States now held. Never before had a country surrendered in war without first being invaded, so the decision to drop the bomb and Japan's subsequent surrender were extremely significant (Baldwin, 39). These bombings didn’t just impact the Japanese, but the whole world and gave way to

Although from an economic lens shows the positive impact of the atomic war and the technological advancements that came fourth due to further study of the atomic capabilities it fails to show how a political lens plays a role in this as well. If a historian were to read this article from a political perspective it would be known that “The US government had an obvious interest in perpetuating the bright atomic future narrative, and supplied the media with officially vetted images and information, but only to a certain point” The question here is that in actual the government wants to shield the media from the actual capabilities and the destructive power the atomic mechanics could withhold. In order to avoid conflicting perceptions a historian must analyze both primary and secondary sources to seek patterns, explanations, causes and effects to come to a

Though people questioned why acts of war were committed, they found justification in rationalizing that it served the greater good. As time evolved, the world began to evolve in its thinking and view of the atomic bomb and war. In Hiroshima, John Hersey has a conversation with a survivor of the atomic bomb about the general nature of war. “She had firsthand knowledge of the cruelty of the atomic bomb, but she felt that more notice should be given to the causes than to the instruments of total war.” (Hersey, 122). In John Hersey’s book, many concepts are discussed. The most important concept for the reader to identify was how society viewed the use of the bomb. Many people, including survivors, have chosen to look past the bomb itself, into the deeper issues the bomb represents. The same should apply to us. Since WWII, we have set up many restrictions, protocols and preventions in the hope that we could spare our society from total nuclear war. The world has benefited in our perspective of the bomb because we learned, understand, and fear the use of atomic weapons.

As the World War II ended in 1945, the Cold War started to approach slowly . The United State of America faced another challenge, after the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first atomic bomb, which was called “ First Lightning” in 1949. This had brought American’s lives on the edge of extreme fear as USSR planed on the next ulterior move. The US governments did not know the other effects of nuclear weapon could have on people, beside its destructive power that was previously witnessed in two of Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1951,the new Federal Civil

After the first few days of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Americans, without knowledge of the aftermath of these cities, began cheering and celebrating as the bombings marked the end of World War II. Also, this event showed that Americans would be the ones who would lead the world into the nuclear age. In a Gallup Poll taken from August 10-15, 1945, Americans were asked whether or not they approved or disapproved of the use of atomic bombs on Japanese cities, 85 percent approved, ten percent disapproved and five had no opinion.30 then when asked if the development of the atomic bomb was a good or bad thing, 69 percent said it was a good thing, 17 percent said it was bad, and 14 percent had no opinion (Steele).

On the 6th of August 1945, America dropped the first ever atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second and last atomic bomb ever used was dropped again by the U.S.A. on Nagasaki in Japan. Since these events, there has been great controversy over the necessity of using such extreme measures to wipe out whole cities, which resulted in numerous disastrous short-and-long-term effects. Throughout this essay, both sides of this argument will be considered and examined.

The nature of the Atomic Bomb created a global and theoretical set of stakeholders that few other ethical dilemmas reach. In many ways this use of nuclear technology created the Cold War and the global fear of a nuclear Armageddon. At that time every citizen of the globe feared how the use of nuclear weapons would harm them and their world. The future is also a stakeholder in this conversation. The effects of nuclear fallout were not well understood at the time. Nuclear aftermath could last for decades and even longer, effecting the health and livelihood of all living things for generations to come. The information that could be collected and research opportunities created after a nuclear weapon detonation would be studied for centuries and will change medicine and research forever. Future citizens and scientists were also stakeholders in this decision.

As History Today reports, “the first hydrogen bomb dropped from the air exploded with a force estimated as equal to a minimum of fifteen million tons of TNT and created a fireball at least four miles wide and brighter than 500 suns” (Web). The hydrogen bomb was also known as the ‘super’ bomb. Scientists were excited at the prospect of this new scientific discovery, even before the atomic bomb was developed” (Cavendish). Even though perceptions about the atomic bomb have varied since its creation, the impact that the hydrogen bomb has had on America remains a controversial topic between citizens, military and victims.

The world as we know today is dependent on energy. The options we have currently enable us to produce energy economically but at a cost to the environment. As fossil fuel source will be diminishing over time, other alternatives will be needed. An alternative that is presently utilized is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is currently the most efficacious energy source. Every time the word ‘nuclear’ is mentioned, the first thought that people have is the devastating effects of nuclear energy. Granting it does come with its drawbacks; this form of energy emits far less pollution than conventional power plants. Even though certain disadvantages of nuclear energy are devastating, the advantages contain even greater rewards.

Just five pounds of plutonium, a component of nuclear waste, is enough to make a

The discovery of nuclear energy began in the 1980’s with Rontgen’s discovery of the X-Ray soon after scientists unraveled the structure of the atom and made the discovery that all atoms have neutrons and protons. The last major component o the atom was discovered in 1932 the neutron. Another important discovery was made in 1938 Germany; the Germans were the first to carry out the fission of uranium atoms. The energy that fission created opened the possibility of two things, powerful weapons, and energy for civilian use. Nuclear reactors control, and produce energy from the splitting of atoms of certain substances. In a nuclear reactor the energy produced is released as heat and the heat is used to make steam which in turn is used to

The use of nuclear energy is a big topic for debate. Many countries have fully embraced it while others, such as the U. S., haven’t. Nuclear energy is feared for its danger and scorned because of its wastes. On the other hand, nuclear energy does have some pros like cheaper cost of energy and environmentally safe. Reactor breeders show great promise in nuclear waste, but are it enough to convince the nation?