What is going to happen to Three Mile Island? Should it be shut down or should it remain open? I think three mile should be shut down. TMI (Three MIle Island) has not been profitable, and nuclear power is not the cleanest energy source. However nuclear energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, and the TMI gives people jobs. Here is why I think it should be shut down and what just might keep it open. Three Mile Island should be shut down. The nuclear reactor was first built in 1968 but wasn't open until 1974. Since it was built about 50 years ago the reactor is older than one that was built in 20016. The reactor being shut down might have a huge affect on the community now but what if in a few years, or a few months Three Mile Island could have …show more content…
On top of it being cleaner it is cheaper the mining of uranium is cheaper than the mining of coal or harvesting of oil. Three Mile Island saves the government money from not having to import oil,coal, and natural gas, since we have uranium right here in the United States so no need to import any. Three Mile Island is producing clean and cheap energy. To take the pros and cons about why and why we shouldn’t keep Three Mile Island open and why we should keep it open. Here is a table of pro’s and the con’s. PRO’S CON’S Cheap energy Could have a malfunction Clean resource Uses nonrenewable resource Saves the government money The owner of TMI said the power plant has not been profitable for about the past five years Jobs (if shutdown people will lose their jobs) Destroying habitats with the mining of uranium This will be a debate will the government and the owner of TMI shut it down or will they keep it open? I think they should shut it down. If Three Mile Island stays open or shuts down the citizens
island to see if the park is safe, and if its the cause for their relative's
radiation has been established (Davis 314). The Three Mile Island unit number 1 got $95 million in modifications. It was also renovated. It took them six years to do all of this. The Three Mile Island unit number 2 was not repaired. However, safety experts still continued to observe and monitor the plant until early 2000. By now the total life-time cost at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant is close to $2 billion (Freiham 290-91).
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.
Further, of all the electricity generating methods, nuclear is the cleanest. This is a fact from mining of the uranium ore to final disposal of the wastes. There is no combustio...
Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station is on an island that is located about 10 miles from the town of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.The plant housed two nuclear reactors, Unit 1 and Unit 2.Now there is only one that is operable, Unit 1.[4]A week or two before the accident a movie called the “China Syndrome” was released.This movie was about the possible aftermath resulting from nuclear reactor meltdown.Coincidentally, Unit 2 was in trouble a little while after.[5]
...nce World War II to the present day, the technology of nuclear power has increased significantly in terms of energy output and safety. The energy efficiency of nuclear power is far superior to its counterpart fossil fuel and renewable energy. Compared to fossil fuels, tiny amounts of fuel used by nuclear reactors is equivalent to a large sum of coal. This is a no brainer. Why mine a ton of coal when a little uranium can be used to gain the same amount of energy? Not only is it efficient, it’s safe to use. Used fuel is packed away in storage safely, so there isn’t any chance of radiation leaking out. In the present day, nuclear power incidents haven’t been occurring lately. Advancements in technology and equipment used have made nuclear energy a very reliable and safe source of energy. With today’s energy needs, nuclear power has the ability to keep up in the race.
Uranium is very useful in society today. Most of the reasons we don’t use other environmentally friendly resources is because none are as efficient as uranium. It also has its uses after it’s used up like reinforcing armor. This makes it very useful in today’s life.
The article mentions how we never really thought through how we would get rid of nuclear waste which is still deadly from a thousand years from now. So we place spent fuel rods near the nuclear sites in cooling pools. This is something I do not agree with the chapter says that in 2003 we had 108 million pounds of nuclear waste concentrated at these sites and that in thirty years it will be doubled. This is an absolute disaster waiting to happen I think that we need to find a better way of disposing of nuclear waste than just concentrating millions of pounds at sites near urban populations otherwise we are going to have another 3-mile island disaster on our hands. Especially if they keep putting the waste near presumed dead volcanoes, what if an earthquake happens and reawakens the volcano that was not dead but just dormant and all that molten lava goes rushing towards all that
...h over one hundred operational power plants that contribute to approximately one fifth of the countries electricity consumption. America is also estimated to be 3 trillion dollars in debt. With the prices to open power plants being over two billion dollars it is easy to understand why America is in debt. It seems that the only negative on a political aspect is the cost.
Nuclear power is the generation of electricity from an atomic reaction. (World Statistics: Nuclear Energy Around the World n.d.) Though it produces zero carbon emissions there has been a decline in support for nuclear power and increased its support for alternative energies in the pursuit for a fossil free energy sector. Factors that have resulted in the reduction of support for nuclear energy include nuclear accidents and waste and the positives of renewable energy which include clean energy, sustainable and reduced health and environmental risks.
Chernobyl was the worst accident in the history of power plants. There were still reactors running until recently. Greenpeace spoke out against it with a powerful quote, “Chernobyl is a time bomb: every day that this reactor operates it becomes more dangerous", said Tobias Muenchmeyer, Greenpeace nuclear expert. To avoid further accidents, people that work at nuclear plants should be careful with what they do. The government should also have the ability to step in and shut down a plant that is unstable and poses a problem to the community. For the good of out world, workers should be supervised more carefully and all leaks and problems should be reported to a higher authority. The public should also be warned because if they know that they live around an unstable power plant, they will take precautions and perhaps move to a safer area.
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...
...t is in practically every country these days unfortunately. The rivers and other water sources are being polluted with waste from mining, which is also big business on the island since it has many minerals.
...ut. It was caused by a faulty design and poor observance of safety. Fukushima was also caused by a faulty design, considering the area it was built on was susceptible to tsunami. One of the reasons why the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was closed was because of the strong public opinion against utilizing nuclear energy. If only the people were well informed and not prejudiced against building a plant that would help our economy and ease our poverty a little, then we would probably be a little more successful right now. Another reason is because of the area where the power plant was built—on an earthquake prone area near a volcanic formation, a threat to public health. Again, overall, with proper maintenance, engineering, and expertise, nuclear energy is a very good investment, especially for the Philippines which is in need of a cheap but beneficial source of energy.
As one of the greatest alternatives to fossil fuels, an important advantage of nuclear energy is the significantly lower emission rate of CO2 in comparison to plants which use coal and natural gas.2 Nuclear power is not reliant on fossil fuels and therefore producing energy by this method reduces pollution and the contribution to climate change. However, whilst the actual process of generating energy releases few emissions, uranium must be mined and purified and in the past this has not always been an environmentally clean process.2 Ultimately, uranium will one day run out, but nuclear reactors are versatile and may also run on Thorium. Despite being finite, this would allow nuclear power stations to function for a longer period of time.