The Cons And Dangers Of Nuclear Power In Japan

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.

Firstly, the usage of nuclear power is consistent and plentiful. As we know, the reaction of nuclear can emit a great power of energy, it can support vast of families’ and enormous plants’ working. In addition, unlike solar energy and wind power, which depend on external factors, nuclear power is consistent generate at anytime and anywhere. Secondly, since the nuclear power is easy to produce and it also can generate a huge amount of power, it is much cheaper to use it. What’s more, like Hill’s saying, “with the cost of natural gas and oil soaring”, the nuclear plants have return back to work and produce massive energy. Lastly, nuclear power benefits to environment: not only because it does not produce the carbon emissions, which can alleviates the global warming; but also it reduces the noxious byproducts, like sulfur dioxide, which is main reason of air pollution. Therefore, using the nuclear power is an ideal energy resource for human

Nuclear power is a much greener option than others, and can help prevent the devastating effects of fossil fuels on the environment. Burning fossil fuels releases thousands of tons of GHGs (greenhouse gasses) into the air that cause a variety of serious environmental problems. The emissions cause global warming which leads to the melting of polar ice caps and the raising of oceans. This also causes acid rain and air pollution which pollutes water sources, accelerates erosion and damages ecosystems (Pacific

In this section we analyze various social impacts associated with the establishment and operation of nuclear power plants. The impacts of nuclear plants on nearby communities and people living there have been a controversial issue since long time. Nuclear power generation and utilization has several impacts on society which includes real estate, property values, employment, taxes, social services, physical and mental health, economic development and cultural parameters, etc.

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

On August 6 and August 9, 1945 in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, survival solely depended on being in the right place at the right time. When American planes dropped the atomic bombs onto the cities of Japan, no one knew what exactly would be the effect of this powerful nuclear weapon. However even years later, innocent Japanese citizens suffer from the experience of these traumatic days during World War II. Despite the horrors, critical information and research was drawn from the development of the atomic bomb and scientists have discovered that there are many benefits of using nuclear energy, in a peaceful manner, in our world as opposed to using other energy sources, such as coal or gas. For example, nuclear energy has

In our society, nuclear energy has become one of the most criticized forms of energy by the environmentalists. Thus, a look at nuclear energy and the environment and its impact on economic growth.

Nuclear energy is much better than other sources of energy for many reasons. It is cheaper long-term than renewable energy, like wind turbines and solar power, safer than coal and has minimal atmospheric contamination. It is also much more efficient than coal, and genetic risks are minimal. The cancer risk increase of nuclear energy is next to nothing; it is only .002%, shortening life expectancies by less than one hour.

Nuclear power plants were set up to harness the energy and provide electricity to a large proportion of people and this energy was very efficient and was long lasting. This technology was also put to use into the medical field to treat cancer patient. The result had a positive and negative effect on the environment. It contaminated the oceans and river there by effecting the fishes and the corals, the radiation emitted had an effect on the human body and to animals. But this source of energy paved a way to greener way of generating electricity and to take an account of global warming and climatic change. In an open letter, more than 65 biologists supported the call to build more nuclear power plants as a global plan to protect the wildlife and the environment and the full gamut of the source (the energy) should put into effect to replace the other fossil fuel such as the oil, coal to cut the effect of severe climate change. Of the many technologies to generate electricity, nuclear power and wind have the highest chance to reduce major climatic effect caused by burning coal which is almost half the global carbon dioxide

Through the use of these limited resources, Japan has found other ways to create energy, one of which is the use of nuclear energy. In Japan, there are over 50 nuclear reactors which have the possibility of accounting for around 30% of Japan’s total energy. Because of the Fukushima accident, the amount of energy received through nuclear power is around 15%, from fewer amounts of reactors. Currently, there are 43 nuclear reactors that are operable and could be restarted. Because of the lack of natural resources, Japan requires about 90% of their energy to be imported, whether it is oil, or the uranium used in the nuclear power plants (“Nuclear Power in Japan”, n.d.). Through the use of nuclear energy as well as other means, the dependency on crude oil has dropped from around 77% to 42%. Using nuclear energy also greatly reduces the carbon dioxide emissions in Japan. Shown through the diagram portrayed on the right, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions for nuclear energy is lower than the emissions from environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar power and wind power. The only two portrayed on the graph as having lower carbon dioxide emissions are geothermal energy and hydroelectric energy that is small or medium sized. The use of nuclear energy has also helped Japan develop into a country in which they are not completely dependent on one source of energy, rather, they have many sources in which they pull

Pollution is another topic with both pros and cons. Fossil fuels release harmful pollutants into the air such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Nuclear power does not release any of those toxins into the atmosphere. However, a pollution problem with nuclear energy is thermal pollution, where a plant’s “hot effluents” are put into a nearby body of water, and raise the temperature by a small amount but enough to cause a disturbance in the ecosystem of the lake or reservoir. Nevertheless, this could easily be solved by cooling the effluents before releasing them into the water. The other problem facing nuclear energy is waste disposal. Nuclear waste is radioactive and very dangerous. Therefore, it must be kept buried and sealed up for a long period of time until the radioactivity dies [Plasma-Material]. One positive fact about nuclear energy that is not disputed is its abundance.

On March 11, 2011 Japan was rattled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. When the tsunami hit, thousands of lives were changed forever. The tsunami claimed lives, destroyed homes, businesses, and roads and left an excessive amount of debris. The impact of the tsunami also caused a major power outage which in turn caused a nuclear meltdown/explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. With the devastation of that day and the days that followed, there will be long-term effects on the environment and the quality of life of the Japanese people. When nuclear power is used, there is a possibility of a nuclear meltdown and/or explosion, thus Japan should not be using nuclear power as a source of energy.

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.

In fact, nuclear power is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to produce large amounts of energy. While nuclear plants generate 20%of U.S. total electricity, it produces only 2000 tons of radioactive waste, whereas the United States coal industry produces 115 million tons of waste, which contains the noxious tidings of mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and even radiation. It isn’t only emitting million tons of CO2, but it is also pollute the ground. In contrast, nuclear waste is controlled very carefully. It is kept in special storage facilities that prevent the leakage of radiation, while coal withdrawals aren’t controlled so that they can pollute environment. (Montgomery, 2010) Moreover, some experts claim that nuclear power can help to stop global warming. (O'Keefe, O'Brien, Pearsall, 2010) Nowadays nuclear energy prevents more than 8% of the world CO2 emission, because nuclear plants produce 40 to 100 times less CO2 than fossil-fuel plants. Countries such as Belgium, France and Sweden, which have developed nuclear programs, reduce their carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide emissions, but countries, which didn’t use nuclear power in the significant way, increased emission

Japan is in a mission to search for energy after the devastated earthquake and tsunami in 2011. People are afraid of nuclear power, yet there is no way to stop the production of nuclear power completely. Japan is heavily depending on nuclear because it is cheaper than buying resources from the Middle East. In the long run, this will impact Japan's economic and climate change. There is no right or wrong to this decision, but one thing for sure, Japan needs a new form of energy.