Nuclear waste should be stored at Yucca Mountain. There are many positive reasons of why the waste should be stored on Yucca Mountain, such as the fact that no one lives on Yucca Mountain. There has not been an recent earthquake on the mountain. There is also the fact that it does not rain a lot on the mountain. So this is why nuclear waste should be stored on Yucca Mountain.
In Richard Muller’s essay on Chemical Waste in America, he points out many different problems in todays disposal techniques of nuclear waste. He brings in readers by appealing to American citizens with his visual texts, guilt, and how we must start feeling some empathy for our future generations and find a solution to prevent a massive chemical waste epidemic. Mullers argument bases off his visual texts, by showing us a reality that is going on today. Among the visual texts, Muller explains the exact quantity of chemical wastes in the United States by telling his audience that, “we have already generated more than enough nuclear waste to fill up Yucca Mountain,” which is a storage bunker for chemical waste products. Muller even includes a picture of Yucca Mountain so the audience can get a feel for the absurd amount of waste we have built up.
In “Nuclear Waste” by Richard A. Muller, he expresses his concerns about radioactive material in Yucca Mountain that will be left behind for thousands of years and the unfamiliar dangers that we face. He starts by stating that nuclear waste is one of the biggest issues that our government faces even though they highly follow their “safe” nuclear waste disposal. He stresses how the government prototype nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain is supposed to be so safe, but they built it on a site that was created by volcanic activity. Scientist have contemplated many different ways to dispose of nuclear waste, but they all seem like the worse than their previous ideas and some still are considering more nuclear power. After his intense evaluation
However, there are few opposition opinions. “Rebuttal”: a) Environmental Impact - The process of mining and refining uranium hasn’t been a clean process. b) Nuclear Accidents - The Chernobyl accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was the worst nuclear accident in the history. c) High Cost - At present, the nuclear business let waste cool for a considerable length of time before blending it with glass and putting away it in enormous cooled, solid structures.
However that does that help with the obvious problem which is excess consumption that leads to environmental and human hazards. Waste Land shows how the rich exploit the poor for their own
Chernobyl, Ukraine. April 26, 1986. A nuclear reactor had exploded due to poorly trained workers and a badly executed monitoring procedure. It took over 600,000 emergency workers and firefighters to end the madness. By the end, 63,000 square miles of land were impacted and could not be used for crops.
Nuclear power produces fewer carbon emissions than traditional energy sources because energy is not produced by burning molecules but splitting atoms. ‘An energy mix including nuclear power has the lowest impact on wildlife and Ecosystems’ as shown by a Conservation Biology paper. Consequently, greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by nearly half which shows the benefits and popularity of nuclear power use. Nuclear power has many environmental benefits such as small waste production, leaves no adverse effect on water, land or any habitats. By reducing fossil fuel consumption and switching to Nuclear Energy, we will sustain the environment, quality of air, improving the overall quality of
Beyond the ash itself, the Tennessee Valley Authority did a $40 million study to determine the residual effects on the environment and wildlife from the spill and what ash remains in the rivers. About 500,000 cubic yards of ash remain. It has mixed with decades-old radioactive pollution from the Department of Energy 's nearby nuclear reservation in Oak Ridge, making it too risky, difficult and expensive to remove. The study found no major risks from the remaining ash, but TVA is required to monitor wildlife for the next 30 years. TVA also has pledged $43 million in support to Roane County, $32 million of which has been invested at nine area schools.
Currently, America places their nuclear waste inside the depths of Yucca Mountain, which lies along a giant fault line (Muller, 253). This fault line has not been active in years, however that is not to say that it could not become active in the future. There is not an infinite amount of space available to store the nuclear waste, and therefore there will come a time when this mountain will no longer be ideal for storing waste (254). Although when this time comes current Americans will no longer be living, and future generations will suffer.
There also has been no effective way to dispose of nuclear waste, therefore it is usually buried where it further contaminates the
Nuclear energy has numerous world benefits that other forms of energy creation just don’t, and its pros are truly unprecedented by any other source of energy. Nuclear power plants are inexpensive to run, which means they can easily be maintained and sustained at a low cost. And while the reactors themselves may be expensive, with government grants the materials can be much more easily purchased and built. The most expensive part of the nuclear reactor process is the uranium, which again, isn’t hard to get as it’s used in few other applications and can be acquired through government programs. Additionally, the energy emitted from these power plants compared to their cost is immense and an extremely worthwhile investment for governments and private businesses.
Nuclear weapons are too dangerous for any party to have within possession. One mishap and it is all over for the holders. Furthermore, nuclear energy should be eliminated because they are prime targets for sabotage. If someone was to infiltrate into a nuclear power plant, they could manually cause a malfunction being a meltdown or an explosion.
Nuclear energy may be the solution that eliminates our concern for energy production in the future, but it still remains a huge issue for the environment. Despite its wide use in many developed countries, nuclear energy poses many threats to both the
Probably words like radiation, mutations and Homer Simpson pop into your head. However, that is not the case. According to Mark A. Jones, Director of Nuclear Operations and Engineering at Hutchinson Island Nuclear Power Plant, during our interview stated: “Nuclear energy compared to solar energy brings less of an impact because nuclear energy doesn 't emit air pollution unlike other forms of energy. It also only needs the fraction of land the salon energy needs and self-contain its own waste from polluting the environment.”
One cannot deny that some nuclear waste is produced and that it is radioactive. However, according to the World Nuclear Association in many countries, nuclear waste accounts for just 1% of all toxic wastes. This means that only a small amount of waste is produced and it would be easy to contain. Furthermore, the BBC states that you are able to reprocess nuclear waste and reuse up to 97% of it. This means that waste can be reduced even further and that that supplies of Uranium can be sustained for longer.
