Nuclear Energy Is Not the Answer

Fossil fuels are a primary source for providing energy throughout the United States. These sources of energy are causing many problems involving environment, health, and pollution. The solution? Nuclear power. Nuclear power is seen as a green energy that can improve global warming. However, there a more issues that can result from using nuclear power. Even though there are a lot of people who support it, nuclear power can result in world threatening problems. Nuclear waste, expense and time, and the threat regarding to war and terrorism are constant issues related to nuclear power.

For years, many scientists, environmentalists, and energy experts have been studying how human’s creation and use of energy has impacted our environment. These experts have discovered some troubling facts. Most of our country’s energy is created from burning fossil fuels that pollute our atmosphere, contribute to global warming, and thus threaten the future of our planet. But there’s a safe and effective solution to this problem: nuclear power. Nuclear power should be used more in the United States to create clean power that doesn’t pollute our environment, in order to help combat climate change.

The loudest objection raised by the anti-nuclear groups is that there is "no safe level of radiation." It is also the phoniest. The major sources of radiation are natural and ubiquitous: we are continuously bombarded with radiation from cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere and from naturally occurring radioactive elements in the earth. Compared with these background sources, the radiation from nuclear power plants is negligible.

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.

It is also can cause fatal consequences. One of the main disadvantages of nuclear power plants is the severe consequences of accidents.

The author of The Cheap but Costly Alternative - Nuclear Power emphasizes the dangers of nuclear energy by informing you of all the disasters that can happen and have happened. The author also uses loaded language to create an emotional appeal on how people could get hurt so that the reader won't support nuclear energy. Wind or solar energy could be good alternatives to nuclear energy. These sources of energy are natural and clean considering they'd come right from the weather and

Chernobyl, Fukushima and Three Mile Island — all known as major nuclear power disasters. Nuclear power might be a good source of power, but in the long run it can be a real hazard and should be banned. If we rely on nuclear power to be our primary power source, it will cause major problems to humans and the environment. Nuclear power is hard to dispose of, expensive to run, and the reactors can easily be disrupted and cause the release of massive amounts of radiation.

“No one in the United States has become seriously ill or has died because of any kind of accident at a civilian nuclear power plant.” says Joe Barton. This is a highly controversial topic where there are many conflicting opinions. Some people believe that these plants are too dangerous to exist while other think that they are the edge of tomorrow. When analyzing it from a purely statistical and analytical standpoint, nuclear energy is clearly worth the possible risks they pose.

Nuclear power plants produce a lot of energy but the power plant is also potentially, extremely dangerous. There is 100 nuclear power plants that are in use in the United States of America as of now. Although when there is an accident, the power plants release a lot of radiation. The radiation hurts the environment, including living things. Since nuclear power plants are not entirely safe and still have flaws, they can lead to disastrous events like the Chernobyl accident. The accident led to about 270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancers according to the Greenpeace Organization. The Union of Concerned Scientists has created solutions in making nuclear reactors safer. They have sent recommendations to the owners of the power plants to tell them what they should do to make sure there will not be anymore nuclear accidents. So far, with these regulations, there have not been any accidents in the U.S. However, the Environmental Protection Agency has made a more promising solution by regulating the radionuclide emissions and the removal of high level radioactive waste that the power plants are producing. However with these regulations, there is still are still possibilities of nuclear accidents and the release of radiation caused by the power plants. Nuclear power plants need to be safer to help the environment and to prevent numerous deaths.

The potential and economic effects of Nuclear power can be devastating. Just look at Chernobyl. And everywhere that has Nuclear power. Where does all the radioactive and toxic waste go? We just put it in a huge barrel, and bury them in deep caves. It doesn’t get rid of the problem, it makes a bigger one. What happens if there’s an earthquake, and all of that spills and gets into our water system, or our oceans, or kills off our animals? It’s not safe.

It is not safe for the environment or to the people that work at nuclear plants. There have been many accounts of nuclear power plants fail or even imploding because of the usage of nuclear energy. For instance the Chernobyl disaster that had occurred on 26 April, 1986 in Russia. It is said that, “The Chernobyl accident dominates the Energy accidents sub-category, of most disastrous nuclear power plant accident in history, both in terms of cost and casualties. It is one of only two nuclear energy accidents classified as a level 7 event (the maximum classification) on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. The struggle to safeguard against scenarios which were, at many times falsely, perceived as having the potential for greater catastrophe and the later decontamination efforts of the surroundings, it involved over 500,000 workers and cost estimated to 18 billion rubles (308658382.05 US Dollars). During the accident, blast effects caused 2 deaths within the facility and later 29 firemen and employees died in the days-to-months afterward from acute radiation syndrome.”-Wikipedia. Another disaster is the Three Mile Island Accident. In 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was destroyed because of a cooling malfunction. According to the plant operators that, “After a radiation leak was discovered on March 30, residents were advised to stay indoors. Experts were uncertain if the hydrogen bubble would create further meltdown or possibly a giant explosion, and as a precaution, Governor Thornburgh advised ‘pregnant women and preschool age children to leave the area within a five-mile radius of the Three Mile Island facility until further notice.’ This led to the panic the governor had hoped to avoid; within days, more than 100,000 people had fled surrounding towns.”history.com

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.

With any large energy producing facility there are risks. The truth is that accidents do happen at nuclear power plants and at other facilities all the time. An example of this was the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania where there was a partial meltdown in March 1979. More recently was the worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Statistical data for 1995, released by the International Atomic Energy Agency early in 1996, indicated that there were a total of 437 operational nuclear power stations in 31 countries with years of experience. Chernobyl was the only plant that injured the public. Thus, judging by the data, that is a good record for a source of energy.

Global demand and consumption of energy is at an all time high; the world needs a safe, efficient, clean, and high producing source of energy production. The solution is something we already use for energy production, Nuclear power. From the beginning of nuclear energy there has been concerns over the safety of the power plants and its impact on the environment. With climate change and more accurate information on nuclear power the tide is shifting in its favor. This paper will explore the positives of nuclear power, political change on nuclear power, safety of the energy source and new technologies associated with the nuclear power process. Most importantly are the risks associated with nuclear power worth it? Research suggests that nuclear power is safer now more than ever and has less of an impact on the environment than coal or oil. Public support and misconceptions over the years have been up and down due to political agendas and those who are misinformed about nuclear power. Individuals who are involved in the energy field are in favor of nuclear power and building more plants with newer technology.

Nuclear energy could be the future of energy and potentially solve the energy crisis problem. Nuclear energy is a sustainable energy source and it can provide millions of times the amount of energy output from a fixed mass of fuel than any other energy source, such as fossil fuel, for the same mass of fuel. Nuclear energy is also very clean for the atmosphere. It produces no greenhouse gases at all. However, nuclear energy can be very harmful to both people and the rest of the natural environment if not managed well. Nuclear meltdowns etc. can release