Nuclear Energy: A Disaster Waiting to Happen?

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Stop for a moment and visualize living in a region that has a nuclear power plant. The efficient and clean energy is perfect for this ever growing world. It is the picture-perfect form of energy until something goes terribly wrong. An earthquake rocks the town in which this nuclear power plant is located. The structures covering the nuclear core crack and the core melt’s down causing massive amounts of radiation to escape into the environment. As the days after the disaster continue, people are forced to leave their homes. Towns that once thrived with life are abandoned, and will remain that way for many years to come. The damage does not stop there. Besides physical objects being contaminated and destroyed, humans must face the disastrous consequences. People are left sick and contaminated by the radiation. They are lucky though. The fallout from this disaster will affect generations for years to come. The world will forever be changed by this disaster, and that is just the beginning. This fictional scenario can relate to many different true scenarios. On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island Power Plant experienced a partial nuclear meltdown in one of its reactors (World-nuclear). The resulting accident caused small amounts of radioactive gases to be released into the environment. Though no major damage was done and nobody was harmed, the possible consequences were too much to risk, especially in a rural area. On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant experienced a colossal explosion and meltdown (World-nuclear). The result of this explosion caused massive amounts of radiation to be released into the atmosphere and environment around the plant. This caused the adjacent city of Pritpyat to be evacuated and eventually ... ... middle of paper ... ...energy. Though nuclear energy has the efficiency and effectiveness to help eliminate our needs for coal and natural gases, it is still too dangerous of an energy form to be using. It has proven to be dangerous through its multiple failures and meltdowns since the Three Mile Island incident. In under thirty five years, three major accidents occurred that will take years to clean up. Chernobyl is still in the clean-up phase even though it occurred in 1986. This clean up phase is only the decommissioning of the plant entirely, not the time it will take for the radiation to hit a level where it will be safe to inhabit the land again. Fukushima will be the same way. We also will not know the total effect of these disasters for thousands of years. For now, it is best that people stick to researching new forms of energy and leaving nuclear energy as a thing of the past.

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