The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power Nuclear power is one of the cleanest and most cost effective form of producing energy. Around fourteen percent of the world’s electricity is powered by nuclear energy. During the 1950s the idea of nuclear power was to generate power for very cheap. At the time, President Eisenhower announced nuclear power’s birth during his “Atoms for Peace” speech in 1953. After that, the first nuclear reactor came online in 1957 and a quite of few more came along as well. With the gas and the oil crisis during the 1970s, nuclear energy seemed like the perfect alternative for energy. Until, a pressure release valve got stuck open at the Three Mile Island power plant in 1979. The Three Mile incident was an operator error and was the first accident

In the article “Nuclear Power: The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful” by Sam Good, it states quote “Nuclear power plants run on uranium; an element so energy-rich that a single fuel pellet the size of a fingertip contains as much energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal or 149 gallons of oil.” End quote. Meaning that, nuclear power plants are one of the best ways to produce energy while saving the planet, all at a cheaper cost. Also stated in the article it said quote “Modern nuclear plants can produce electricity for just four cents per kilowatt hour (including capital construction costs!), a great competitor compared to solar energy’s 16 cents per kilowatt hour and coal’s 9 cents/kWh.” End quote. Proving once that nuclear power is the most efficient, and the most cost effective forms of producing energy. If all of the United States started using nuclear power as the only source of energy, then all electricity bills will be extremely cheap, and there would be little to none toxic emission coming from the plant, unlike other energy

In the article, Good states that, quote “13% of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants that emit little to no greenhouse gases.” End quote. Which shows that if the whole world stopped using other sources for energy and started to use nuclear power only, then it could potentially end global warming. According to SFGATE’s article, called “Which One Is Better for the Environment: Coal or Nuclear?” it states that quote “Coal-fired electric power plants emit massive amounts of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants to the atmosphere on a daily basis. Nuclear power plants emit no carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, or other toxic gases.” end quote. By saying, coal fired electric plants emit massive amount of greenhouse gases, it shows that producing energy the old fashioned way it could lead to severe global warming. Also showing that coal powered plants dump an abundance amount of harmful gases into the air. Furthermore, Bill Gates, along with other people, have recently started a new company called “TerraPower”. According to TerraPower’s website it states quote “TerraPower® is a nuclear energy technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At our core, we are working to raise living standards globally. The essential factor? Energy. In 2006, Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries decided that the private sector needed to take action.” end quote. This shows that