The Nuclear Energy Industry

　　　　In the recent years, nuclear energy has gotten a comprehensive development. There are over 430 commercial nuclear power reactors operable in 31 countries, with over 370,000 MWe of total capacity. About 70 more reactors are under construction, and these numbers are still rising up (World Nuclear

Nuclear power plants are a safe, clean and reliable source of energy production. They are uniquely qualified to meet the growing demand for energy in the USA.

In a 2015 study, fifteen percent of all of Canada’s electricity comes from nuclear reactors, primarily in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. That is equivalent to 100,500,000,000 kWh of energy generated just from nuclear energy every year! Nuclear energy generates a lot of energy compared to the amount it costs. The cost of nuclear energy has remained low for many decades, usually being about 7 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour). The average cost of creating 1 kWh is roughly 11 cents, meaning nuclear energy is cheaper than most energy sources. Figure 1.1 demonstrates the cost per kWh from many sources of energy that we use in Canada. Uranium is used in most nuclear reactors costs 100 dollars per kilogram in Canada, which is relatively cheap compared

Nuclear power provided 11 percent of the world 's electricity production in 2014. In 2016, 13 countries relied on nuclear energy to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity.

Nuclear power is harnessed from the energy retained inside of an atom’s nucleus. This energy bindes the atom together and, when released, can be used to produce electricity. In order for this energy to be released, however, it must be subjected to either nuclear fusion, the combination of several atoms to form one larger atom, or to nuclear fission, the division of larger atoms into several smaller atoms. Nuclear power plants, first introduced in 1954, use this second method in the production of electricity. Inside of a nuclear power plant, uranium atoms are split and their nuclear energy released, creating the heat necessary to produce the steam that powers turbine generators and create electricity. Nuclear energy is often referred to as a “clean” energy source because, unlike fossil fuels, its production does not result in the generation of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Many endorse the use of nuclear energy because it is efficient, providing large amounts of energy in exchange for small amounts of fuel, reliable, as it can be produced almost all day and night, year round, and affordable, costing about 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2012 compared to fossil fuels, which cost about 3.27 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2012. However, the use of nuclear power also has several significant disadvantages. Its main downside lies in the threats nuclear power plants present in the forms of radioactive waste and nuclear meltdowns.

Nuclear weapons have an effect on everyone in the world and even on the future generations. They affect everything from the soil to people’s genes. This research will make the reader more aware of a subject of a subject that is rarely talked about. America promotes non-proliferation but has more than 10 000 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. In addition, America is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons; twice during WWII on Japan. This caused the death of hundreds of thousands with the effect of the bombs still being seen today. America has a huge influence over the weapons and nuclear industry and change must start from

The need for electricity continues to grow each year worldwide. Americans have long sought out an environmentally friendly, safe way of fulfilling their needs for energy. Presently, as concerns for the environment continue to become more prominent in the U.S., the demand for cleaner energy producing practices also becomes more pronounced. One of the cleanest production methods in use today is nuclear power generation (Kidd).

The primary reason that people intend to build a nuclear power plant is the cost of nuclear energy. The number of nuclear power stations increased dramatically during the first oil crisis. During that time, the nuclear energy is taken as a substitution of fossil fuels with reasonable cost. Governments were afraid that the high oil price in the future would affect economics, especially for those industrialized countries who have a lack of natural resources such as Japan and some countries in Europe. Since the nuclear stations can operate for a fairly long period, typically 40 to 60 years, the lifetime cost of nuclear-generated electricity is low and can be very competitive at a low price per unit energy produced. Also, majority of the cost of nuclear energy is incurred during construction and preparation before it starts operating. The cost of uranium affects little to the total cost of nuclear energy, so not like a thermal power station, which is sensitive to the price of coal, natural gas or oil, the electricity price from a nuclear power plant will be pretty stable. These advantages on cost will benefit both industry and people’s living. A report from Mckinsey about energy in Japan shows that after the Fukushima accident, because of the shutdown of nuclear power plants, household electricity prices have increased by more than 50% from 10 ₵/kWh to 16₵/kWh. [27] The rise of electricity price may be a result of power shortage. This means

Nuclear energy was very popular after the world war two and during first few years of the cold war. The race to build stronger and more powerful nuclear bombs helped the case of nuclear energy. Many countries thought that nuclear energy is the answer to having unlimited energy but that all came crashing down as the public's perception changed after the Chernobyl accident. The accident killed thousands of people and that is not something that the public wanted to ever happen again which is why countries slowed down on their ambitions to build more and more nuclear power plants. Uranium usage was another big concern because in about 90-100 years it is believed that we will run out of it and countries were hesitant to build new power plants but

As each year passes, more and more electricity will be made as a result of increased nuclear power plants around the world. The economic benefits of nuclear energy are equally advantageous as the environmental aspects.

The world's natural resources are being consumed at an alarming rate. As these resources diminish, people will be seeking alternative sources by which to generate electricity for heat and light. The only practical short-term solution for the energy/pollution crisis should be nuclear power because it is available, cleaner and safer.

China has no option but to continue using coal in generating electricity. Coal is the only viable resource in their disposal that can be used to generate electricity bearing in mind that in 2011 it was the largest coal producer, producing more than 3.5 billion metric tones of coal. This accounts for 135 of the worlds coal supply. Coal is used to fire 805 of China's power plants (Institute of Energy Research, 2013). There are other avenues that China can exhaust with regard to electricity generation like hydroelectric power. However, hydroelectric power has since lost its share in China's power generation market from 18% in 2010 to 12% in 2040(Institute of Energy Research, 2013). This comes even after hydroelectric power had injected an excess of 190 gigawatts of hydroelectricity generating capacity. This has relegated to the second position after coal (Institute of Energy Research, 2013). Nuclear power is ranked third. It is expected to add 149 gigawatts of nuclear capacity over 30 year projection into China's energy grid. The Fukushima incidence and other world nuclear incidences could be the reason why nuclear power is ranked lower relative to coal power. This may be because apart from the environmental concerns that have been associated with coal use it has never caused an incidence of a magnitude of a nuclear disaster. Use of wind is also gaining currency in electricity generation. However, it is still ranked fourth after nuclear power because it

On this assignment we are going to research all energy sources and their drawbacks, we are also going to explore on some the negative ramifications that even the clean hydropower have, additionally we are going to weigh those against the possible consequences of developing nuclear power, a controversial alternative to fossil fuels. We will discuss the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster as well as the 20th century Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in drawing conclusions about risk versus reward of nuclear energy use.

In 1942, Enrico Fermi successfully sustained a nuclear fission reaction and created the world’s first functional reactor. What his experiments, and those of earlier scientists like Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, showed was that by splitting the nucleus of heavy radioactive elements (like uranium and cadmium), energy is released, and the reaction could be designed to generate a sustained energy source (Schlager & Weisblatt, 2006). Subsequent experiments illuminated the promise of nuclear energy as a reliable alternative to coal, and scientists and economists praised it as the future of energy. While nuclear power remains the most efficient form of energy (Nei.org, 2013), its early proponents failed to take into account the potentially devastating effects of a power plant overloading and exposing radioactive waste to nearby populations, and catastrophic events like the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters have substantially undermined the promise of Nuclear Energy. The question of whether nuclear power will become the standard of energy production remains a hotly debated topic among economists and environmentalists alike. The economic costs of nuclear energy are vast, ranging from government oversights and barriers to entry, to variable human capital costs and fiercely competitive substitutes. By analyzing the economics of the establishment of a nuclear power plant, we can get closer to answering the question of whether nuclear power will become the true future of energy.

Currently, the country operates 36 nuclear reactors that produce 31.4 GW of power while 20 other reactors are under construction and they are expected to generate 20.5 GW when complete (World Nuclear Association, World nuclear power reactors and Uranium requirements, 2016). Besides, there are plans to construct more reactors with a capacity of 58 GW by 2020 thereby increasing nuclear power from the current 2 percent to 6 percent in line with its 11th Five-Year nuclear generation plan.