The Negative Effects of Nuclear Energy

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.

On December 2, 1942, the first man-made nuclear reactor reached criticality. Fast forward 75 years from that day and we can see nuclear power research and development is still maintaining momentum. That is because the potential of nuclear power has shown itself in currently operating power plants. This paper will explore the history and background of nuclear reactors, how it works, its strengths and weaknesses, while touching on their effect on the United States today.

Nuclear reactors are designed to maintain a chain reaction engendering a steady fold of neutrons engendered by the fission of heftily ponderous nuclei. They are differentiated either by their purport or by their design features. The two types of reactors are research reactors, and power reactors. Research reactors are operated at universities and research centers in many countries, even those where no nuclear

and seeing as the waste is extremely radioactive, storage and placement of the waste can be

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.

In my opinion, nuclear power is both unsafe and safe. Nuclear power can be considered unsafe because if the cooling system loses power, then that can cause a nuclear meltdown which can throw radioactive elements all over the place. The radioactive elements that the reactor throws can cause living beings to die or the radioactive elements can cause serious cancer. It also can destroy anything that gets in its

Have you ever wondered what affects Nuclear Power can have? There is also many bad things that come from Nuclear power, like cancer and other illnesses.There are many Power plants under construction, and are there more on the way. Nuclear power is really clean, and very simple.

Now when people think of nuclear power plants their first idea to come into mind wouldn’t be safety, and in fact events such as the first nuclear meltdown in Chalk River, Canada and the 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl, Ukraine would scoff at such a suggestion; however not only is nuclear power a safe option for energy, it can be considered a safer option that Coal, Fossil Fuel, and most surprisingly hydroelectric energy. In what I dubbed the “Worst Dam Disaster in History” the Banquio Dam of China flooded, and eventually was destroyed, in August 1975, killing an estimated 171,000. The most liberal estimates of the deaths at Chernobyl are around 4000 deaths. In addition since 1952 there have been 33 meltdowns, less than 1

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station that has a nuclear reactor as the main heat source. The power plant generates electricity by producing steam that runs through a turbine that is then connected to a generator which produces the electricity. Nuclear power plants are controversial because of the always looming question of “Do the benefits outway the risks?” For example, there is no carbon dioxide released into the air by the nuclear power plants but, the nuclear waste can be around for 200-500 thousand years seeping nuclear radiation into the area around it. There are many debates about whether or not nuclear power plants are good or bad for the United States,

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.

Energy is an essential aspect of life that has influenced human research for generations. The pursuit for sources of energy has lead to human dependency on fossil fuels and other sources such as coal. These energy resources were useful but they are slowly depleting and aren’t a long-term resource. With this in mind humans have sought for improved forms of energy; this has lead to many new forms of energy and innovations. An energy resource that was discovered was Nuclear Energy. Nuclear energy has made its way into the demographic of human energy resources. Do the benefits of nuclear energy out weigh the risk and cost? Can this form of energy uphold against scrutiny based on its negative effects and if so is it a long-term resource? Nuclear energy has advanced significantly but with this progression there are many risks, risks that may cause the future of nuclear energy use to be unclear. Throughout my research I discovered the types of nuclear reactions that are developed in order to create nuclear energy, consumption levels of nuclear energy has increased in recent years in areas such as the USA, the hazards that are always associated with nuclear energy, the amount of capital needed to create the essential environment for production, maintenance of these environments, storing of the products produced by nuclear reactions and expert based opinions on nuclear power’s effect on the world and its future as an energy source.

Nuclear energy has been a topic of world debate since its invention, with both clear upsides and downsides the topic of universal nuclear energy use has been subject to controversy and public scrutiny, but also scientific and economic praise. The field of nuclear energy and its driving forces were originally studied in the time around 1895 and the technology was mostly researched as a weapon for the military, around the time of 1935-1945 nuclear energy research witnessed a major boom. As most know, in 1945 nearing the end of World War II the United States gave nuclear energy its first public showcase by dropping two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, after that point the U.S. wanted to change the way that the world look at nuclear energy, Mitchell Waldrop a leader in the study of nuclear energy stated, “Originally developed in the late 1940s as a compact power source for nuclear ships and submarines, the light-water design was adapted and scaled up during the 1950s, when the United States sought to put a peaceful face on atomic energy by creating a commercial nuclear-power industry.” (Waldrop, 2012, pg. 27) Nuclear energy since the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan has taken a severe impact in the form of public ridicule which would lead to decades of establishing the technology as safe and beneficial. After this point, around the 60’s and 70’s despite lower public option scientists continued to make an effort to make nuclear energy a feasible

The first commercial nuclear power plants were constructed in 1950. The public was promised a non-polluting and resourceful type of energy. Although there are less than 500 nuclear power plants in the world, but many nuclear accidents have already been endangering civilian lives, such as the accidents in Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the most recent Fukushima Diichi. Nuclear energy may appear to be the ideal source of energy for the future. However, there are uncontrolled situations that cause the reactor into meltdown and lead to disaster.

As nuclear energy employs similar technology as those in city-destroying weapons, the possibilities for danger are abundant. The breakdown of atoms creates other, new atoms called daughter isotopes. Many of them are also radioactive, but need to be removed from the reactor since they don’t break down fast enough to be used as fuel. In addition, the unused nuclear fuel and Uranium-238 must also be removed, forming what is collectively known as “nuclear waste”. It is both chemically toxic and radioactive, and must be stored away from anything living. In addition to creating toxic waste, reactors require water to cool the reactor. The used hot water is dumped back in lakes and rivers, and the temperature change can harm wildlife. Not only does nuclear power create dangerous materials during every second of operation, but nuclear plants can become extremely dangerous if something goes wrong. Look no further than the Chernobyl incident. The Chernobyl nuclear plants were a set of four nuclear reactors in what is now Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union. On April 25, 1986, unauthorized tests were done on one of the reactors, and the safety features were disabled. “Engineers initiated an uncontrolled chain reaction in the core of the reactor” (Chernobyl), and the following day, a massive explosion in the reactor destroyed the

Various energy resources are capable of generating waste that can be decomposed after several years, such as carbon emissions. However, nuclear energy damages the earth to an extent that could remain for several million years. Energy resources such as carbon emissions are decomposable after several years, yet nuclear energy appears to produce the greatest amount of damaging effects to this planet. Nuclear waste can remain deadly on earth’s surface for millions of years. Many citizens may have some form of knowledge on nuclear energy, but are not well informed about it. This form of energy is known to come from the separation of atoms from a particular element in turn releasing a form of energy. These small microscopic atoms may seem harmless however, when creating this form of energy it produces what is known as radiation. When this energy is produced radioactive waste follows, which in turn, can be incredibly hazardous for humans, animals, and plant life. This energy can pose as a threat, especially when the radioactive waste is not disposed of properly contaminating the surrounding environment. Nuclear power plants require a great deal of labor, expenditures, as well as upkeep. When considering nuclear energy as a valuable source of energy, one must consider the various disadvantages including possible environmental threats, potential malfunction or failure, and constructing expenses as well as maintenance.