Is Nuclear Energy A Safe And Reliable Resource?

Nuclear power, the type of energy that sits on the edge of humanity’s greatest hopes, and its darkest fears. With a country such as the United States continuing to expand its industry, housing, agriculture and commercial buildings there is a need for more and more energy each year. Nuclear power is one of the many ways the United States gets its energy. Nevertheless, it is one of the most controversial means of energy production. The main concern with nuclear energy is the nuclear waste that is produced along with it. The potential health and environmental risks posed by nuclear waste is what truly scares some of the American public. Therefore, is the amount of energy output by nuclear power plants outweigh the potential risks that nuclear waste can have on human health and the environment? Nuclear power plants should be kept as a means of generating energy for the United States, however, transportation and storage of nuclear waste needs to continuously be checked for safer alternatives.

Usually when people think about guns they think about crime. But are the two really related? Do guns really lead to crime? And if they do, do laws that restrict firearm ownership and the use of guns stop the crime or protect people? These are the questions many politicians are asking themselves when creating gun control laws. The debate over gun control is nothing new. As you can see this debate still goes on today and is the cause for the beginning of gun control laws.

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, it uses fuel made from mined and processed uranium to generate heat and electricity. It is the world’s largest emission free energy source. Nuclear energy also has the lowest impact on the environment than other energy sources. But it can still be very harmful because of the radiation is causes and the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive wastes are the ruins of nuclear materials that are used in providing nuclear energy. These wastes contain high levels of radiation that can be very hazardous to humans and the environment. Some people accept and support the idea of using nuclear energy and others don’t. In the following paragraphs, some major nuclear accidents and the public acceptance of nuclear energy will be discussed.

When you hear the word “nuclear”, what do you think of? Does the thought scare you, intrigue you, or have no effect at all? Nuclear energy has been a part of our lives for many years. Some events that included nuclear power included the Cold War and the Chernobyl disaster. These events have changed how people view nuclear energy. Nuclear power is used all around the world to create efficient energy, but it can also be used to create weapons and destructive material. Nuclear power has proven to be clean, efficient and cost effect; the Chernobyl disaster revealed to the world why we needed to change training, safety procedure, and the structure of the plant itself.

Nuclear power was the world’s fastest growing form of energy in the 1990’s. However, presently it is the second slowest growing worldwide. Considering that nuclear power accounts for eleven percent of the world’s energy supply, one must ask what happened [Nuclear Power]. Why is it that the growth of nuclear power has almost completely stalled? The simple answer is that after meltdowns such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, many people are afraid of nuclear power plants, which causes great opposition to the expansion of the industry. Unfortunately, most people are not well informed about nuclear energy; many do not take the time to view its positives and negatives.

Whoosh, Eureka! The steam spun the wheel of the turbine. The ecstasy of finding a new energy source is ineffable, and when one was found the discovery always immediately prompted a race to use the newfound source. In accordance with this behavior many sought to integrate nuclear power into society upon its development. The difference is nuclear energy is far more complicated and powerful than anything the field of energy has dealt with thus far. Consequently, there is a hesitance to its utilization as it is difficult to discuss the complexities of the process with the public without some misinterpretation. Ergo, this paper will attempt to inform the reader as to the benefits of nuclear power. Nuclear power in the U.S. is under harsh debate

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission, splitting atoms in two, which releases energy in the process to generate heat and electricity. Heat created by fission drives the turbines that generate electricity. When nuclear power was first created it was predicted that it would be very successful. It was also predicted that nuclear power would be “too cheap to meter,” that is electricity would be very cheap so either consumers would not be charged for electricity at all or the prices would be very low (Cohn, 1997). Although nuclear power is still in use today the initial success of nuclear industry eventually declined. Nuclear industry and its supporters claim that nuclear power is environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and safe,

Nuclear power has been one of the largest contributors of energy for the past fifty years. With the end of World War II, research into nuclear energies shifted away from war applications to simply using it to power the world. Nuclear power was regarded as the never ending energy source that would bring an end to energy problems and power the whole world. For many years it seemed to work with no problems; however, that was a short lived reality. As problems with nuclear energy came to light, many believed it was a better investment for the future to research and develop new energy sources or just continue using fossil fuels. Many believe the risks and downsides of nuclear power outweigh the benefits. However, there are still many advocates of nuclear power that believe it is the best energy source for the world for reasons such as its large production of energy, their belief that it is not a major harm to the environment, and their belief that it is better than the other energy alternatives. However, in spite of these beliefs and facts, research into nuclear power opposes the belief that nuclear power should be the main contributor of power because they are expensive to build and can result in a catastrophic situations.

Provided that countries can acquire uranium, they can create clean and safe energy. Generally nuclear power stations are safe. The various barriers and numerous safety measures make it very unlikely for catastrophes to transpire. The most up-to-date plants have a reactor core failure 1 in 1 million years. The proposal of building a plant has to be scrutinized intensely so that the barriers and structure ensure a redundant job in

With the ever increasing population, [energy demand, and the need for alternative resources continues to increase.] Nuclear energy comes up as a strong contender by being clean, sustainable, and more consistent moreover than others in the renewables category. Even though those in the energy industry argue that the use of nuclear plants provides a stable source of power in a clean and renewable matter, in areas where other resources are available, the potential threat of nuclear meltdowns outweigh the positive benefits of nuclear energy as cleanups cost billions because of decontamination and unusable land so the number of nuclear power plants should be restricted so the risk of national and worldwide economic damage is minimized.

Nuclear energy, which has historically been depicted as a dangerous and evil energy source, has recently seen renewed attention as an alternative form of energy and has been rehabilitated in the eyes of the public after rising concerns regarding global warming and a rise in the demand of energy (World Nuclear Association 2011). However, due to the March 2011 Fukushima accident,

For the most part, when people hear the word nuclear they instantly have images pop into mind. They think of atomic bombs, nuclear fallout, radiation poisoning, and sometimes the end of the world. These views have impacted the amount of nuclear energy in the United States it produces only 8.5% of the U.S. total energy. (IER, 2016) Though this is substantially more than other alternative sources of energy it is still quite minor compared to fossil fuels. These views appear to be generally shared across the globe with Nuclear power supplying only 11% of the world’s electricity. Though 13 countries rely on nuclear energy for over a quarter of their energy needs with France the highest at 72.3%. (NEI, 2017)

After the catastrophic event at Fukushima the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has increased safety requirements on current and new reactors. The changes to the nuclear industry include the construction of new next-generation reactors, more detailed safety requirements, and increased use of new technology. The advanced third generation (III+) reactors will have an “advanced reactor that provides a simplified design,

Since the start if the industrial revolution there has been an ongoing increase in the demand for power. The level of power needed is expected to increase, and in recent years there has been a great deal of attention paid to the way in which that power need may be met in a manner that is not detrimental to the environment. One of the more controversial power sources is that of Nuclear power. Nuclear power is know to have the potential to provide relativity long term, high levels of power which does not have the environmental costs associated with the burring of fossil fuels (Chu and Majumdar, 2012). However, while there is a great deal of potential, there are also some valid safety concerns; the Chernobyl meltdown is well known for both the environmental damage and the cost on human life, more recently there are concerns about the defunct Fukushima nuclear plan in Japan, which failed following an earthquake and is now leaking radio active water into the ocean (Adelman and Watanabe, 2013). With both potential benefits and challenges the future of nuclear power appears to be uncertain.

While some say nuclear power is risky, the facts prove otherwise. Nuclear energy is often treated as a taboo subject due to misconceptions throughout history by the public, but in actuality, nuclear energy is relatively safe, when practiced correctly. Nuclear energy is a process in which atoms are split, producing heat, which boils water. The steam then turns a turbine to produce electricity. While fission is involved in nuclear bombs, the process in each are both different. The ‘fuel’ used for this process is Uranium-235, an isotope of uranium. Nuclear energy, contrary to popular belief, does not describe the horrible power of nuclear explosive, but the calculated, safe procedure of releasing the fundamental power of the atom. The pros of nuclear energy firmly outweigh the cons of the issue. If the people responsible for the facilities that the energy is produced in follow safety procedures the cons are nearly reduced to nothing. Not only is it a completely green energy source, but the power output is immense, and uranium is such a common material that is used so infrequently means that it will last for an extremely long time.