Nuclear power is too expensive, dangerous, and unreliable to be used as a form of energy. Although it is sustainable, we can be using safe, renewable resources to obtain the same energy for less. In this essay, I will be explaining three disasters that have taken place and why they have proven that nuclear energy is futile, but first, what is nuclear power?
Nuclear power is a form of obtaining energy produced by nuclear reactions that occur in uranium and plutonium. “Two isotopes of these elements, uranium-235 and plutonium-239, spontaneously undergo nuclear fission” (Newton “Nuclear Power”), these isotopes are bombarded by neutrons and they break apart to form new elements and great quantities of energy, and that energy is later used to generate
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The contaminated water has been decontaminated and evaporated. In the “Three Mile Island” article written by Lauren Thomas, Thomas mentions that the Department of Energy is storing the radioactive waste, core debris, and reactor fuel. What has been left behind is being monitored and will be kept long-term until April 19, 2034.
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The Chernobyl disaster took place on April 26, 1986 when Chernobyl, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Fallout from this accident affected large parts of Russia and Belarus, and some radioactive dust fell to parts of Europe. Lauren Thomas insists that the Chernobyl disaster is regarded as the worst accident in nuclear power plant history because of the environmental and health concerns. This accident also revealed several flaws in the safety operation of the Soviet nuclear power industry.
The Chernobyl accident resulted from a disregard for safety and a faulty power plant design. Although the technicians working in the site were fully aware of the faulty design, they violated many safety regulations while running tests on the plant. While running the tests, they disabled the reactor’s emergency cooling system, removed a dangerously large amount of control rods, and disregarded a warning message to shut down the