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Persuasive Essay About Nuclear Power

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Nuclear power is a small growing field of alternative energy but contains major issues ranging from infrastructure problems, nuclear waste, and radiation. Nuclear power is a clumped together with Wind, Solar, and Hydroelectric as an alternative energy but it gets the most slack for being the most dangerous form of alternative energy. In some degree, it’s true that nuclear power can potentially be dangerous but it’s generally pretty safe and the output of power is on par with other sources of energy right now. And it only can get better with the innovations of the future for nuclear power. Nuclear Power has been around for about 60+ years but how does it work? People today create nuclear power as a source of energy is through something called …show more content…

U-235 first needs to be mined and enriched. U-235 makes up about 1% of all natural Uranium found on Earth while U-238 Makes up the majority of Uranium found. When natural Uranium is enriched, it is turned into a gas using high speed centrifuge tubes and the U-235 is sucked out of it. The U-235 is then turned back into a solid to be later used in a reactor or a bomb (Fox, “How is Uranium Enriched?”). The enriched U-235 is then taken to a nuclear power plant where it will be used as the main component to generate electricity. The U-235 is packed into a rod shape and placed in water. The radioactivity of the U-235 generates heat that heats up the water, causing steam to form. The steam will work its way and begin to drive a turbine, causing power to be generated from the turbine (Fox, “How is Uranium Enriched?”). The energy is then used to power your refrigerators and charge your …show more content…

From the first reactor built as part of the Manhattan project, Chicago Pile-1, and according the Nuclear Energy Institute to the 438 nuclear power plants currently being operated today and 10.9% of world relies off it (Nuclear Energy Institute, “World Statistics”). After World War II ended, we began a shift to seeing the process of nuclear fission as not only a weapon, but as an energy source. The cost of using nuclear energy has not changed much compared to other forms of energy. A study ran by the World Nuclear Association ran a study between 1995 to 2012 to track costs of US electricity production costs showed that within that time, nuclear energy production costs have stayed at 2.40 cents/kWh, while coal is 3.27 cents, and gas is 3.40 cents (World Nuclear Association, “Nuclear Power Economics”). The cost to build a nuclear power plant varies but is quite expensive due to the sheer amount of raw resources needed to build it and high end technological to create an efficient plant and provide the workers with a safe working

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However, mostly due to fear and the lack of knowledge, many are adverse to the use of nuclear power. Nuclear energy comes from two methods, fusion and fission. Fusion brings together tritium and deuterium to create heat energy, helium, and a neutron (Duke Energy, 2013). Nuclear fusion releases more heat energy than fission, however it is more difficult to control, so it is not currently a viable energy process (Duke Energy, 2013). However, the sun is an example of nuclear fusion, in how it produces heat.

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1492 Words | 6 Pages

Briefly, a breeder reactor can convert uranium-238 to uranium-239, as the uranium-238 gains a neutron just by sitting in the reactor. The uranium-239 will in the end decay into plutonium-239, which can be used in a nuclear fission reactor just like uranium-235. On a final note, uranium-238 makes up 99.28 % of the uranium on earth, yet it can not undergo fission like uranium-235, thus the reason it is put through this process, so it does not go to waste, considering it’s the largest source of uranium on earth. At this point, several advantages of using nuclear power to produce Oregon’s electricity has been put forth, but the disadvantages have yet to be

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1283 Words | 6 Pages

Nuclear fission, the process that takes place inside a nuclear power plant, actually produces 10 million times the amount of energy produced by fossil fuels. That’s more energy for less money! Nuclear energy has been used for more than just electricity as well. Its uses involve medical research equipment, industrial equipment, scientific neutron beams, and nuclear weapons. People say that nuclear energy is responsible for the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb which can wreak havoc on a large scale, like desolating a country, to a small scale, like altering DNA.

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Nuclear Power Support or Fear The global energy demand is increasing as years go by as there is a rapid growth of population in deed of power. Due to the high demand for energy, many people are opting to replace other forms of energy with nuclear power because of its safety, reliability, and sustainability. In addition, it is one of the cleanest carbon free sources of energy available in the world today. Nuclear power is the use of continuous nuclear fission to produce electricity and heat.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

Nowaday, the energy made from nuclear power plants used for various purposes. The production of electric energy continues. Nuclear power plants generate electricity for nearly 90 percent of their annual time. It reduces price volatility in other fuels such as gasoline. Many countries that use nuclear power plants mostly use fission technologies.

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Humanity needs a lot of energy. It is needed for light, heat, transport and food in everyday life. For many years, the non-renewable resources of fossil fuels such as coal and oil have been the main sources of electricity. Recently, nuclear power is seen as a potential alternative source of great amounts of energy supply. The nuclear power plants that exist today provide approximately 13.5 percent of the world’s electricity (world Nuclear Association, 2013).

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1587 Words | 7 Pages

In 2016, Nuclear energy produced 94,748,858 kilowatts of electric power. This power by itself would be enough to fully power 77 million homes for over a year. Considering the puny American fleet of one hundred power plants, this is no small feat. Since 1979, the size of the American nuclear program has shrunk considerably, with the prospect of ordering new plants a far off concept to American bureaucrats and corporate officials. Yet, the industry was not always negative.

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Nuclear fission, which is what is currently used by most power plants, works by bombarding heavy elements like Uranium-235, which are stable before the reaction, with neutrons. The neutrons are often absorbed by the atoms, causing the atoms to become unstable and break into smaller elements, and energy is produced. The process of fission is typically controlled by a machine called the light water reactor. Light water reactors work in a way that is honestly quite simple (Kurzgesagt), non-irradiated water is used to slow down the neutrons bombardment, the atoms moving around create

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Patrick Moore, World-Nuclear Association, 2014). From 1939 to 1945, most of the development of nuclear power was for the atomic bomb (Dr. Patrick Moore, World-Nuclear Association, 2014). After World War II, it was found that the nuclear reaction releases large amounts of energy (Dr. Patrick Moore, World-Nuclear Association, 2014). That energy generated heat, which is used to create steam to drive steam turbines to produce electricity (Dr. Patrick Moore, World-Nuclear Association, 2014). It was thought that oil and coal would run out and that nuclear energy would be a substitute.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

Nuclear Power is the cheapest energy of all the current major energy used-- such as coal, natural gas, and oil--as well as the clean alternative energies that we try to use in the place of the major fossil fuels. According to the Institute of Energy research’ “In 2011 nuclear energy averaged the cheapest cost at 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour of energy”(Electric) The energy that we compare this to is usually one of the biggest of producers coal. Coal is averaging over 3 cents per KWh of energy.(Electric) These energy costs include the building of the facility as well as the operation of

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3678 Words | 15 Pages

“Nuclear power will help provide the electricity that our growing economy needs without increasing emissions. This is truly an environmentally responsible source of energy.” Michael Burgess Prior to the introduction of nuclear energy, fossil fuel was thought to be the only available source in producing energy. Although fossil fuel, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas, contains high energy value, it produces too many harmful byproducts that ultimately pollute our environment. With the rising concerns over global warming as more and more greenhouse gases accumulate in our Earth’s atmosphere, many voice such opinions that new alternative, yet sustainable method must be adopted to produce energy.

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1155 Words | 5 Pages

But how does this rare earth metal create energy? With Thorium being a non-fissile metal, it is necessary that the reactor is to transmute thorium 232 into uranium 233. Uranium 233 is fissile which allows it to split into multiple atoms. The decay of thorium can be explained through a diagram.

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1598 Words | 7 Pages

According to report published in 2010 by OECD and IAEA “Uranium 2009: Resources, Production, and Demand”, the NEI determined resources “are adequate to meet nuclear energy needs for at least the next 100 years” with the current rate of consumption (nei.org “Abundant Supplies of Uranium”). According to the Nuclear Energy Institute in 2017, nuclear energy has the highest functioning capacity among all other conventional energy with the rate of more than 92% compared to 14.7% of oil. To elaborate further, one uranium fuel pellet would produce the same amount of energy as 149 gallons of oil, or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, or compared to one ton of coal (nei.org “Electricity

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738 Words | 3 Pages

THE COOPERATION AND CONFLICT THEORY This theory is hypothesized on the basis to generate the prediction on how FMC may increase maternal health and in cases that will decrease maternal health. The interaction between the mother and fetes is considered to be a cooperative one. Whereas parental interaction is characterized as both cooperative (genes are shared and increases fitness )and conflict (all genes are not shared and future pregnancy will be impacted by too much of maternal cells in offspring).In the light of conflict the fetal manipulation takes place by increasing the resource transfer from maternal circulation through the placenta and it has also caused the emergence of maternal countermeasure in order to limit the transfer so as to avoid impact on either sides.(6) MATERNO FOEATAL MICROCHIMERISM AND DISEASES Increased FMC will lead to certain pregnancy related disorders because of the dysfunctioning of placenta and foeto maternal hemorrhage (5)These cells are capable of surviving in the bone marrow and they are able to proliferate, differentiate and activate. Hyper activation of these cells have been found to be associated with autoimmune diseases (4).The FMC have the ability to attack the maternal tissues and leads to

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944 Words | 4 Pages

Nuclear energy is something that we`ve all heard about. It carries risk and potential. When an atom (Uranium and Plutonium in nuclear power plants) is bombarded by neutrons, it can be split, causing fission. This fission releases more neutrons, which causes a chain reaction. Nuclear power plants use this use the heat that is created by fission to heat water that spins their turbines (“Nuclear Energy”).

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