More handpicked essays just for you.
Positive and negative effects of nuclear energy
Positive and negative effects of nuclear energy
The importance of nuclear energy
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
There are plenty of things that might kill us nowadays. Among these are epidemics, wars, and maybe even the sun eventually swallowing up the planet. More prominently, we will be heavily damaged by carbon emissions from fossil fuels resulting in global warming.Obviously we need to solve this problem by moving to clean energy. The United States, along with many other countries around the world, are looking at nuclear energy as the possible solution. But, despite many advancements and benefits, the usage of nuclear energy still has the power and chance to devastate civilizations around the world, and may not even solve the prevailing issue of carbon emissions. I must acknowledge how far nuclear energy has come since its conception, as well …show more content…
In our haste to save the environment, we overlook the damage that nuclear energy could cause in the place of fossil fuels. Benjamin K. Sovacool, the director of the Danish Center for Energy Technology at the Department of Business Technology and Development at Aarhus University, observes that “two related environmental issues in particular are important but seldom discussed: water and climate change” (553). On the subject of water, nuclear energy appears to be even worse than the fossil fuel alternative, “nuclear reactors draw vast quantities of water for both cooling cycles and dissipating waste steam. According to a study conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute, nuclear plants demand 25 to 50 percent more water per unit of electricity generated than a fossil-fueled plant with an equivalent cooling system” (Sovacool 553). As a result, nuclear power capacity takes a hit during the hottest seasons, when it is needed most, and “this mismatch was poignantly demonstrated in Europe after a series of heat waves in 2003 forced France to cut back 6 GW of capacity. Several German reactors were also forced to operate at partial capacity” (Sovacool 553). Unbeknownst to many, nuclear energy is not incredibly climate friendly. In fact, “the nuclear life cycle consists of many activities that emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such as uranium mining and milling and spent-fuel conditioning. When these are added to the emissions associated with plant construction, operation, and decommissioning, the typical reactor emits about 66 grams
There are many sources of energy today, and the best source of it is constantly being sought after, one source stands out above the rest. Nuclear energy is simple in theory, yet it may be one of the most controversial sources of power. Nuclear energy works using reactors built to split the atoms (nuclear fission) of the fuel to produce heat. This heat evaporates the cooling agent (usually water) into steam which turns turbines to create electricity. Nuclear energy should be allowed, because it produces an abundance of electricity, as well as being a clean source of energy with no harmful emissions. Nuclear energy is the future of clean, environmentally friendly energy.
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.
Nuclear power has no place in having a safe, clean, sustainable future. Today, the manufacturing of nuclear power plants has become a critical topic throughout the world that many strongly believe should be stopped. Nuclear Power is not safe anywhere in the world nor is it environmentally friendly. Nuclear power plants are truly something that could cause mass destruction in the world and has the potential to wipe out a whole country with ease. Despite proponents’ that claim that nuclear power is safe, there is a history that proves otherwise and marks a number of disasters caused by nuclear power plants.
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that they should advocate the use of alternative power sources other than nuclear energy.
Not only is nuclear power friendly to the environment, but it is almost always available, and many countries are starting to use it more. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind en...
The main parties who is associated with the debate are governments, experts, and the country people. These people have given out their opinions regarding the effects of nuclear ene...
“Face it. Nukes are the most climate-friendly industrial-scale form of energy” (Power, Reiss, Pearlstein, 655). This statement is what I’m trying to promote through my argument. It also ties Inconvenient Truths: 10 Green Heresies by Matt Powers, Spencer Reiss, and Jonanna Pearlstein and Nuclear Power is Best Energy Source: Potchef Stroom together by bring out the main point all authors are trying to get across. Global warming has been a big concern for years now and one of the biggest causes for it, is the burning of fossil fuels to get energy. People that live in the United States of America use a huge amount of energy in their daily lives and that amount continues to grow with our population growing with it. My purpose of this piece is to persuade people to switch to nuclear power for a cleaner energy source because it’s the cleanest energy source.
Nuclear power has grown to be a big percentage of the world’s energy. As of January 18, 2013 in 31 countries 437 nuclear power plant units with an installed electric net capacity of about 372 GW are in operation and 68 plants with an installed capacity of 65 GW are in 15 countries under construction. As of end 2011 the total electricity production since 1951 amounts to 69,760 billion kWh. The cumulative operating experience amounted to 15, 15,080 years by end of 2012. (European Nuclear Society) The change that nuclear power has brought to the world has led to benefits in today’s energy’s usage.
Specific purpose: To persuade the audience that nuclear power is the best source of energy today.
Nuclear energy is produced from the splitting of millions of uranium atoms in a very interesting process called fission. This type of process is used in big power plants where there are numerous tools and machinery that help produce the energy. From generators to pumps to turbines and transformers there are up to 12 main components that all come and work together to create high amounts of electricity. The fission process is used to produce a lot of heat and steam from the reactor where uranium rods are placed. That very hot steam then travels to big turbines and spins them through the generator to generate and produce high amounts of electricity. The electricity then travels to transformers and from there it travels through land wires that run hundreds of miles into cities and towns (World Nuclear Association [WNA], 2014).
The use of nuclear energy has increased in the United States since 1973. Nuclear energy's share of U.S. electricity generation has grown from 4 percent in 1973 to 19 percent in 1998. This is excellent news for the environment. Nuclear energy and hydropower are the cleanest large-scale means of electricity production. Since nuclear power plants do not burn fuel, they emit no combustion byproducts—like carbon dioxide—into the atmosphere (www.nei.org). Nuclear power can come from the fission of Uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Today uranium (U-235 and U-238) is most commonly used in the production of nuclear energy. The expa...
In 2007, the world consumed 5.3 billion tons of coal, 31.1 billion tons of oil, 2.92 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, and 65,000 tons of uranium. All of these energy needs could have been met with only 6,600 tons of thorium, an abundant, slightly radioactive element found in the Earth’s crust.
Our country is currently suffering energy-wise, we have been powering with inefficient sources for years now and the harm that it is doing to the country has started to become apparent. Renewable energy is the only way to stop, or at the very least set back the inevitable downfall of our ecosystem. I think that the next big breakthrough for renewable energy is implementing off-grid communities that use renewable sources as their main sources of power, so that we can potentially escape the energy rut that we got ourselves stuck in.
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...
Media coverage of such cases have made the public less comfortable with the idea of moving further towards nuclear power and they only opt for reducing human activities to reduce global warming. It is true that there have been some notable disasters involving nuclear power, but compared to other power systems, nuclear power has an impressive track record. First, it is less harmful and second, it will be able to cater for the growing world population. Nuclear power produces clean energy and it delivers it at a cost that is competitive in the energy market (Patterson). According to the US Energy Information Administration, there are currently 65 such plants in the Unite States (National Research Council). They produce 19 percent of the total US energy generation.