Nuclear Power: Energy for the Future Essay

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

As the global population increases exponentially, having passed six billion in 1999, the world population is expected to be 8.9 billion by the year 2050. The worlds energy consumption will increase by an estimated 54 percent by 2025. Energy demand in the industrialized world is projected to grow 1.2 percent per year. Energy is a critical component of sustained economic growth and improved standards of living. One of the major requirements for sustaining human progress is an adequate source of energy. As the world’s technological enhancements and standards of living improve, so too does their appetite for electricity.

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction (fission, fusion). In nuclear energy, the water is turned into steam, which in turn drives turbine generators to produce electricity. This can be dangerous! Some of the major disadvantages include radiations, radioactive waste that would be produced and accidents that can occur in nuclear reactors.

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.

In a nuclear power reactor, the energy released is used as heat to make steam to generate electricity .All matter is composed of elements. The important elements for our discussion of nuclear energy are uranium, plutonium, carbon and hydrogen. Uranium and plutonium are involved in nuclear energy production, and carbon and hydrogen are the main elements in conventional fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. You can find nuclear energy in the United States has more than 100 reactors, although it creates most of its electricity from fossil fuels and hydroelectric energy. Nations such as Lithuania, France, and Slovakia create almost all of their electricity from nuclear power plants. Uranium is the fuel most widely used to produce nuclear energy. There is two kinds of nuclear power plants Fission reactors can be divided roughly into two classes, depending on the energy of the neutrons that sustain the fission chain reaction: Thermal reactors the most common type of nuclear reactor use slowed or thermal neutrons to keep up the fission of their fuel. In my opinion i think Nuclear power plants are safer and a lot more beneficial than any other energy

Today, as much as we know about nuclear power is one of the most powerful and fresh energy, compared to any carbon dioxide producing fuels like coal or oil. It is a very cost effective “cheap” source, but with a major downside. Obtaining it is a rather complex chemical procedure, and the outcome is not only precious power, but also hazardous waste. This

Nuclear waste is generally defined as a variety of solids, liquids and gases which are produced during the generation of nuclear energy through the process of fission, mining of Uranium, nuclear research and weapons production (Shah, Abhishek). Nuclear waste created by a nuclear power plant is not as complicated as one might think. First water is heated in the reactor when uranium atoms split and cause fission, then the heated water is transferred to the primary

Nuclear energy is the process of creating useful heat and electricity. The nuclear power debate is a controversy about the deployment and use of nuclear fission reactors to generate electricity from nuclear fuel for civilian purposes. The debate over the expansion of the nuclear energy program has been prominent over the last 4 decades. The debate really escalated during the 1970s and 1980s, when it "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies", in some countries. It is important for the expansion of human life and improving life as we know it. I firmly believe that we need to keep using and expand the use of nuclear energy due to the fact that it eliminates fossil fuel pollutants, it is sustainable and cost effective, and it improves overall human quality of life.

Uranium reactors produce waste byproducts that are hazardous for tens of thousands of years (Thompson 60). In contrast eighty three percent of thorium’s byproducts become stable after a decade and the remaining seventeen percent become stable after approximately three centuries, which is still a far cry from how long it takes uranium’s byproducts to become stable (Hargraves 308). Thorium reactors use their fuel much more efficiently than LWR and inherently have less waste to show for it. One ton of thorium fuel creates one ton of waste, whereas a LWR would need 35 tons of enriched uranium or 250 tons of ordinary uranium to create the same amount of energy, and would create 35 tons or 215 tons of waste respectively (Hargraves 308). Although thorium is a radioactive element like uranium, it emits alpha particles which are biologically less harmful than uranium’s gamma particles.

There are tow types of waste produced from nuclear fission: high-level waste and low-level waste. High-level waste consists of used uranium rods that can no longer be used for energy or produced into other elements. The majority of low-level waste consists of water and used equipment from the nuclear reactors. Both types of waste are highly toxic and it was estimated that about 200,000 cubic meters of low level waste and about 10,000 cubic meters of high level waste are produced world wide each year. These wastes are usually encapsulated in multi-layer containers that are buried in deep geological areas (Figure 5). According to the European Union (EU) calculation, the disposal of low level waste costs about $2,200/ cubic meters and high level waste costs over $100,000/ cubic meters annually (Storage and Disposal, 2015).

First, nuclear power releases radioactive material and dangerous chemical elements such as plutonium. It slowly takes thousands of years to become unharmful. There is a procedure called reprocessing which is the removal of

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.

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.

The International Energy Agency estimates that by the year 2003 forty percent of the world's energy production will be from sources other than fossil fuels or nuclear power. Nevertheless, the need for