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The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

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Nuclear power for civilian purposes is a widely-debated topic, with interest peaking in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Currently providing 15% of the world’s energy, nuclear power plants raise many concerns regarding accident risk, disposal of radioactive waste, and overall damage to human health and the environment. However, there are also many benefits to nuclear energy – nuclear power can produce energy at 91% efficiency with low carbon emissions, it is cheaper to produce energy, and the materials used for nuclear energy are energy dense. This research essay will explore the reasons why society is uncomfortable with the idea of nuclear power, as well as the reasons why society is comfortable with it.

The debate against nuclear power is built upon historical nuclear disaster, waste containment and public risk. In the past century, the use of nuclear …show more content…

Connotatively, the word “nuclear” generates images of war, disaster, and crisis; this is due to the negative history related to nuclear products. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, and during WWII the United States dropped two nuclear bombs over Japan – one on Hiroshima and another on Nagasaki, resulting in 129 000 - 246,000 casualties. This event has marred public opinion about nuclear power because the negative effects and danger of this technology was made apparent. Another reason why society is uncomfortable with nuclear power is the unsolved problem of radioactive nuclear waste. After use, the nuclear fuel is waste and must be safely stored, because its radiotoxicity level is extremely high - it takes approximately 300 000 years for the radiation level of the waste to subside to safe levels. In addition, the containers in which nuclear

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Helen Cadicott Nuclear Power Is Not The Answer Summary

939 Words | 4 Pages

In “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer,” Helen Caldicott argues that pursuing nuclear energy would be a detriment to the United States. According to Caldicott, nuclear power, contrary to what the industry claims, is not clean and green, but rather a pollutant and a strong contributor to the destruction of the ozone layer. Because of the availability of uranium ore steadily decreasing, the process is requiring more and more fossil fuels to extract the ore. Caldicott projects that within ten to twenty years, nuclear reactors will be counterproductive because of the amount of fossil fuel it will take to mine the remaining uranium. In addition to air pollution, nuclear power plants also emit radioactive gases and materials that have the potential

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Helen Cadicott Nuclear Power Is Not The Answer Summary

662 Words | 3 Pages

Besides this, the author talks about the fact that nuclear power relies on a huge amount of investment and government subsidies. Additionally, Caldicott asserts that nuclear energy is dangerous since terrorists could easily attack reactors to disable a city;

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Arguments Against Nuclear Energy

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Despite years of research, countries with nuclear energy programs such as the United States have failed to solve the challenge of finding safe and secure storage for 'spent ' nuclear fuel... There are presently over 400 nuclear power plants in the world - many, in places at high risk for natural disaster or political upheaval.” (Lama 2011) There are also hypothetical situations that can occur in regards to a nuclear power plant. Living by or miles away from a nuclear power plant presents a great safety concern for the general population.

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The Nuclear Waste Policy Act Of 1982 (NWPA)

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The 20th century was the dawn of the nuclear age. With nuclear energy’s appearance on the world stage, the problem arose of how to regulate storage and disposal of the waste products. With nuclear byproduct having a half-life of 24,000 years, the need for a productive and safe plan to store the nuclear waste was vital (“Backgrounder on Radioactive...”). The United States’ response to this growing issue was the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) was a pioneering piece of legislation, that fell short of providing a solution due to the government’s failure to uphold obligations outlined in the NWPA, including poor planning of a realistic timeline, bad decision making that burned through taxpayer dollars

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The Pros And Cons Of Clean Nuclear Power

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Since the 1950’s, America and its allies have been investing in clean nuclear power in the idea that it would provide a clean sustainable power source. However, in March 28, 1979, a nuclear plant in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania suffered a meltdown. Although it was not as

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Los Angeles Economic Plan Essay

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The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

341 Words | 2 Pages

It all started June 26, 1954, when the first nuclear power plant, Russia’s Obninsk APS-1, was connected to the power grid (Koelzer, 2013). For the first time, nuclear power was used to bring electricity to the citizens. This was the origin of the massive impact that these plants would have on society in both positive and negative ways. Nuclear power has offered billions of people cheap power that is also very reliable. On the other hand, it has led to many deaths and has caused some locations to become uninhabitable by any living creature.

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II) Ethical Issues Like I stated earlier, “In today’s times anything with the word nuclear has become a huge ethical and political debate. ” People are so scared of anything radioactive, and you can’t blame them. Many deaths were cause by them in the past, and most likely more deaths are going to happen in the future with nuclear radiation being the cause.

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The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

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Abstract Energy is a resource on which our very society is built around. Energy affects every aspect of our daily lives and is absolutely vital in our survival in the modern world as well as the of the preservation of Earth itself. This research paper will explore nuclear power, our previous understanding what it was, what its effects means for society on both a national and global scale, but most importantly, why nuclear power is the solution to our problems. We must face the reality that we cannot depend on coal, gas and oil for our energy needs if we are to combat global warming. To replace fossil fuels, many energy technologies have been considered, but nuclear fission technology is the only developed energy source that is capable of sustaining

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The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power

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In past time, the fact that some valuable resources had been used up made people want to find safer, more renewable and cheaper resources. Then, with the developments of technology, people finally found out that there was a kind of energy which could provide endless sources that people needed without emitting dioxide or costing tons of money—and this kind of resource named nuclear. Thus, people considered nuclear as the power which was safer and cheaper than all the resources that they were using at that time. But in fact, due to the recorded history and research documents, its tremendous might and uncontrollable feature make nuclear power now recognized as the sort of force which brings several negative influences not only physically, but

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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

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Since the nuclear accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima, people around the world have hotly debated the efficiency, wastefulness, environmental footprint, and overall safety of nuclear energy. In the TED Talk, Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy, Stewart Brand, a staunch advocate for nuclear energy, and Mark Jacobson, a critic of the alternative source, lectured to prove their form of energy was superior. Accompanying the TED debate were the articles Nuclear Power Is a Viable Source of Energy, written by Mario Salazar, and Nuclear Power Does Not Compare to Other Renewable Energy Sources by Mark Clayton. These articles also differed idealistically in what constituted a reliable energy resource. When discussing the same topics, the advocates

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721 Words | 3 Pages

Energy is one of the most important things that necessary for people to sustain their life. Due to decreasing fossil fuels, people are looking for new energy sources. Thus, some scientists think that nuclear power plants are the solution of this issue; on the other hand, so many people are opposed to nuclear energy due to alternative and renewable energy sources. Thus, nuclear power plants should be banned because they have a high risk of explosion and people are concerned about its risks such as radiation scattering, pollution and diseases. Ten big nuclear explosions occurred in history.

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1617 Words | 7 Pages

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On of the biggest fear humans have on the idea of nuclear power is the terror of radiation; this can be easily overcome by educating the people about the method of radiation and its behavior. Some people will be surprised by the facts that radiation has been a part of our environment ever since the begging of time and that radiation in reasonable amounts can be an advantageous to our health. Therefore, radiation should not be feared need but can be controlled suitably to serve mankind in a positive

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