Nuclear Power Essay, Research Paper

Entering the twenty-first century, six billion people inhabit the earth. A

number that is expected to double in a hundred and twenty years, yet only 4% of

that world population lives in the Untied States. Even though the Untied States

is only 4% of the population of the world, it still uses 25% of the world?s

resources. This statistic is most important with the argument of food

consumption, with so many countries starving, but it also means that the United

States uses 25% of the world?s energy resources. Coal and oil are a major

energy provider around the world, particularly in the US. (See figure 1) Many

countries without these abundances have turned to nuclear energy, due to its

supreme effectiveness. Nuclear energy produces more energy per unit weight than

coal and oil, releases no pollutants into the atmosphere and is less cancer

causing than the burning of coal and oil. Yet nuclear power has been attacked in

the US since the day that it was instituted as being a non-safe and

environmentally non-friendly form of energy. Right now the United States does

not have to worry about running out of fossil fuels for a long time, even though

they generate 51.7% of the US?s power, and power almost all forms of modern

transportation. But what happens down the road, when all of the natural

resources are gone? In many countries, such as France, nuclear power is accepted

and welcome. Why is this not the same way in the US? The media and all forms of

entertainment have misconstrued the facts of nuclear energy. Most people are

sacred of nuclear power, the word unsafe is synonymous with nuclear power in

this country, but time has shown that there is so reason for this feeling.

Americans do not hold the facts on this issue. They have the unwarranted fears

of a mass and free speaking culture. Nuclear energy is safe, clean, and

effective. The voice that is heard among the people is that nuclear energy is

unsafe to the environment. There should be no debate about the environmental

concerns of nuclear power. If there is anything that makes nuclear power

unpractical it is government spending. Never the less nuclear power is the

cleanest form of power for a rapidly increasing world population. Nuclear

reactors produce electricity by the fission of uranium, not the burning of

fossil fuels, not emitting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate soot, or

greenhouse gases. In countries around the world nuclear energy is the largest

source of emission-free electrical generation. Making one million kilowatt-hours

of electricity in a natural gas power plant produces 550 tons of carbon dioxide.

Producing the same amount in an oil-fired plant makes 850 tons of carbon dioxide

and 1,110 in a coal plant. But making one million kilowatt hours of electricity

in a nuclear plant creates no carbon dioxide. Not only does nuclear energy not

emit any pollutants, it is causing the average of pollutants that are let into

air to decline. Since 1973, the generation of electricity by US power plants has

resulted in two billion fewer tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. (See

figure 2) Nuclear energy has accounted for 90% of all carbon emission reductions

achieved by the electric utility industry. And the fact still remains that I

gram plutonium has the same energy potential as 1 ton of oil. Another major

concern for the environment is what to do with the waste of a nuclear plant. It

is in this area that causes people feel that nuclear power is unsafe for the

environment. The fact is that the waste is radioactive for thousands of years,

and if not disposed of properly could destroy the environment. In some

countries, such as France, the waste from the nuclear plants is recycled making

a lower amount of unusable waste. This is not done in the US, but should always

be an option. The waste is stored in huge drums impermeable to any type of

disaster. As a result, the nuclear energy industry is the only industry

established since the industrial revolution that has managed and accounted for

all of its waste, preventing adverse impacts on the environment. Yet what

worries people is that the waste is radioactive. At a close range a person would

only receive 3 millarems of radiation from one of the tanks, when the average

person receives 350 millarems of radiation each year from everything around

them. Even when the plant on Three Mile Island had a disaster in 1979, (the

worst is US history) the average person that resided in that area received 2 to

10 millarems. This would also mean that nuclear power is not the cancer causing

threat that the majority of the population thinks that it is. The burning of

coal is more cancerous then nuclear power, and coal burning releases more

radiation then nuclear power. Not only is nuclear power more nature friendly,

but more human friendly. The United States needs a non-polluting form of energy

that can supply the mass of people, and they have it. Nuclear power is not an

enemy and should be considered for use in the future. The abundance of coal

could be exported to other countries that don?t have the money to run on

nuclear power. This could be in turn used to finance nuclear power. France runs

on 76% nuclear power and there it is seen as the safe, environmentally friendly

practice that it is. However to be as efficient as France, the US must recycle

their waste products to be used in the plants, helping to decrease the fear of

nuclear waste. With the facts on paper, in black and white, nuclear power is the

logical choice with the environment as the concern. The only thing that is let

into the air out of a nuclear plant in steam, and that water is not contaminated

in any way. Human beings are the only species that take and gather more then

they need. No other species on the planet uses up all of the resources it can

find. Animals live in a symbiotic relationship with the planet. Animals do not

willingly pollute earth; man knows that he is contaminating the planet by

burning fossil fuels for energy. Nuclear power is much more environmentally

friendly. When all the waste is accounted for, which it has been since the

moment of institution, the nuclear industry lets no pollutants into the earth.

With concern for the health of the environment, nuclear power is the answer.

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