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Nuclear Technology After the World War II Essay

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After the United States developed the atomic at the end of World War II, interest in nuclear technology increased exponentially. People soon realized that nuclear technology could be used for electricity, as another alternative to fossil fuels. Today, nuclear power has its place in the world, but there is still a lot of controversy over the use of nuclear energy. Things such as the containment of radiation and few nuclear power plant accidents have given nuclear power a bad image. However, nuclear power is a reliable source of energy because it has no carbon emissions, energy is available at any time, little fuel is needed for a lot of energy, and as time goes on, it is becoming safer and safer. A major advantage of nuclear power is that …show more content…

Nuclear power is available for 90 percent of the hours of the year (“Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy”). This makes nuclear power very convenient for countries, and is probably why France uses nuclear energy to generate three quarters of its power. Many Eastern European countries also get a quarter of their power from nuclear energy (“Nuclear Power in the World Today”). Nuclear power is used so much by these countries due to its efficiency. With nuclear energy, tiny amounts of fuel can go a long way in terms of power. One uranium fuel pellet has the ability to generate as much energy as one ton of coal (“Quick Facts: Nuclear Energy in America”). Using 20 metric tons of uranium fuel, a typical nuclear facility can produce enough power to generate electricity for more than 690,000 homes ("Quick Facts: Nuclear Energy in America"). It would take a lot more fossil fuels to generate electricity for that many homes. Nuclear energy gets the job done with a lot less. As times goes on, nuclear power plants and their reactors are becoming safer and safer. Contrary to popular belief, a commercial nuclear reactor is not like a ticking nuclear bomb just waiting to go off. Nuclear power plants may have been given this image due to the accident at Chernobyl. First of all, nuclear reactor uses uranium fuel rods that are not enriched beyond five percent; weapons grade uranium requires a much higher enrichment

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