The energy industry is beginning to change. In today’s modern world, governments across the globe are shifting their focuses from traditional sources of power, like the burning coal and oil, to the more complex and scientific nuclear power supply. This relatively new system uses powerful fuel sources and produces little to no emissions while outputting enough energy to fulfill the world’s power needs (Community Science, n.d.). But while nuclear power seems to be a perfect energy source, no power production system is without faults, and nuclear reactors are no exception, with their flaws manifesting in the form of safety. Nuclear reactors employ complex systems involving pressure and heat. If any of these systems dysfunctions, the reactor can leak or even explode releasing tons of highly radioactive elements into the environment. Anyone who works at or near a nuclear reactor is constantly in danger of being exposed to a nuclear incident similar to the ones that occurred at the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi plants. These major accidents along with the unresolved problems with the design and function of nuclear reactors, as well as the economic and health issues that nuclear reactors present serve to show that nuclear energy sources are not worth the service that they provide and are too dangerous to routinely use. There are two main types of nuclear reactors used in the world, Pressurized Water Reactors, known as PWR’s, and Boiling Water Reactors, known as BWR’s. The former is more complicated and thusly more safe and more commonly used, while the latter presents several unnecessary hazards and is quickly being phased out of usage (Duke, n.d.). In both systems, reactions take place inside of a reaction chamber located within a co... ... middle of paper ... ...etrieved from http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/health_effects.html World Nuclear Association. (2012). Physics of uranium and nuclear energy. In World Nuclear Association. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear- FuelCycle/Introduction/Physics-of-Nuclear-Energy/. World Nuclear Association. (2013a). Chernobyl accident 1986. In World Nuclear Association. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of- Plants/Chernobyl-Accident/. World Nuclear Association. (2013b). The economics of nuclear power. In World Nuclear Association. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Economic- Aspects/Economics-of-Nuclear-Power/. Zott, L.M. and Schier, H. (2013). Introduction to nuclear power: Opposing viewpoints. Nuclear power. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?.
The meltdown of Chernobyl's fourth reactor was the result of a series of errors in the reactor design, operations, and a failure to follow established safety protocols. These human errors resulted in more than 400 times the radioactivity of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb being released into the environment (Salge & Milling, 2006). This caused a massive economic, environmental, and human toll to the region. Improved reactor design and proper adherence to safety procedures could have prevented this disaster.
On April 26, 1986, a reactor in the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded and released 126 different types of radiation into the atmosphere. On April 25, the reactor which later exploded was shut down for maintenance. At the same time, machine operators were planning a test on the nuclear turbines located in the power plant. During this test, the operators turned off several safety systems which led to this major disaster. While testing the reactor, the power was increased, water flow into steam drums decreased, and the power rapidly increased. Because the emergency and safety systems were turned off, the reactor exploded and caused a horrible problem to deal with.
Nuclear power has always been a controversial issue because of its inherent danger and the amount of waste that the plants produce. Once considered a relatively safe form for generating energy, nuclear power has caused more problems than it has solved. While it has reduced the amount of traditional natural resources (fossil fuels), used to generate power like coal, wood, and oil, nuclear generating plants have become anachronisms. Maintaining them and keeping them safe has become a problem of immense proportion. As the plants age and other technology becomes available, what to do with these “eyesores” is a consuming issue for many government agencies and environmental groups. No one knows what to do about the problem and in many areas of the world, another nuclear meltdown is an accident waiting to happen. Despite a vast array of safety measures, a break in reactor pipe or a leak in a containment vessel, could spell another environmental disaster for the world.
When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to fail sometime or another.[3]
Many believe that nuclear power plants are a hazard to the people that live around them and the environment in which they are built. However, these assumptions are based mostly on the fact that the nuclear reactors and nuclear power plants of today are built to the same standards that the old nuclear plants from many years ago. Nuclear power today is designed to be much safer than outdated nuclear power plants and have a very minimal chance of causing a nuclear catastrophe. Nuclear power plants are a safe and viable option for generating electricity for the foreseeable future.
Now in our modern society we have a big need for energy and are trying to find alternative types of energy power plants. Nuclear power plants are used in more than 30 countries all around the world (World nuclear association, n.d. para.3). These power plants are able to generate electricity continuously for many months at a time without interruption (World nuclear association, n.d.para.2). Nuclear power plants produce electricity by going through the process of fission. They have pros and cons as well, they can bring more jobs helping out the economy but also the radiation waste that is given off of the plants can harm many people’s health.
America needs to pay better attention to what is happening in Japan. This is our opportunity to learn and prepare our own Nuclear Plants in the event of such a crisis. We currently have 100 commercial nuclear power reactor units licensed to operate in the U.S. These operate in 31 of the 48 contiguous states. The nuclear power reactor units provide the U.S. with approximately 20 percent of its electricity. By reviewing Americas history of some recent natural disasters, I intend to build a case that an incident such as Fukushima could happen her in the U.S. I find it essential that these lessons be taken seriously to strengthen nuclear safety and it eventually leading to a complete phasing out of nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy, while seemingly very efficient, is a dangerous threat to earth. Nuclear power plants are at constant risk for accidents, the outcomes being colossal. If an accident were to occur, exposing
Raymond, Murray. Nuclear Energy, Sixth Edition: An Introduction to the Concepts, Systems, and Applications of Nuclear Processes. 6th. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. Print.
"Nuclear Power Plant." Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS, 01 10 2013. Web. 12 Feb 2014. .
One of the most significant environmentally damaging instances in history was the Chernobyl incident. In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine exploded. It became one of the most significant disasters in the engineering community. There are different factors that contributed to the disaster. The personnel that were tasked with operating the plant were unqualified. The plant’s design was a complex one. The RBMK reactor was Soviet design, and the staff had not be acquainted with this particular design. As the operators performed tests on the reactor, they disabled the automatic shutdown mechanism. After the test, the attempt to shut down the reactor was unsuccessful as it was unstable. This is the immediate cause of the Chernobyl Accident. It later became the most significant nuclear disaster in the history of the
Nuclear power is known to us as a source of energy and not much more than that. We do not consider the risks of this power source in which we use. Using nuclear power plants hurts our planet by producing harmful fumes and radioactive wastes. Nuclear power plants produce radioactive waste that has to be disposed properly but even with precautions the waste stays dangerously radioactive for several years with nothing we can do about it. It is not only dangerous because of life of the radioactive waste but also the consideration that it might be spilled in an area in which can harm our planet even more and/or people and animals. These power plants are technically atomic bombs since they have the same process to be able to produce high outputs of energy, messing around with atoms, which can be extremely dangerous. They are not only dangerous because of their output but also because their behavior is unpredictable when there is no systems to cool them down. For example, not to long ago Japan was struck by a massive earthquake which tampered with their nuclear power plants controlling systems and they were afraid that if the plants heated up to much they would explode. Japan had many fail-safes but in such a disaster as they were in we have to expect the unexpected. Nuclear power plants need to many precautions. If we switched our dependency on these plants we would be able to live a much more healthier and safer life. We can switch to green alternatives
When the word nuclear reactor is mentioned in passing today, it is usually associated with giant, concrete cooling towers emitting torrents of steam, a mushroom cloud rising high into the sky, or even Homer Simpson asleep at the control panel. Nuclear energy is so much more than that. When first discovered it was praised as being a low-cost, low mission alternative to fossil fuels, which is extremely good for the entire, but today with the threat of nuclear meltdowns, safety has become a key issue. ”In the United States, 104 nuclear power plants supply 20% of the electricity overall, with some states benefiting more than others.” (Brain, Lamb 1) With that many reactors in the United States alone, people have a right to know if operations are conducted safely. That information can be quite worrying to some, but when we actually look at the track record of nuclear power, another side is told. In the World Nuclear Association’s Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors it states there have been two major reactor accidents in the history of civil nuclear power - Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. One was contained without harm...
Nuclear power, the use of exothermic nuclear processes to produce an enormous amount of electricity and heat for domestic, medical, military and industrial purposes i.e. “By the end of 2012 2346.3 kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity was generated by nuclear reactors around the world” (International atomic energy agency Vienna, 2013, p.13). However, with that been said it is evident that the process of generating electricity from a nuclear reactor has numerous health and environmental safety issues.
The greatest disadvantages of nuclear energy are the risks posed to mankind and the environment by radioactive materials. ‘On average a nuclear plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel cla...