“In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan causing a nuclear accident at three Fukushima Daiichi reactors. The accident caused three nuclear meltdowns and the release of radioactive materials” (“Nuclear Energy”). This accident is the exact type of incident that often holds people back from an environmentally friendly energy source. This article goes on to say that everybody in the area was evacuated and deaths were only results of the natural disasters and not the nuclear leak. Additionally, accidents have occurred in many other companies that do not use nuclear power, yet they have had higher death totals. Along with these points, nuclear energy has many positive aspects. For example, nuclear energy use has benefitted …show more content…
As global warming becomes an even greater problem and efficient sources of energy are hard to find, nuclear energy has increased in popularity. For example, “Global climate change and depleting stores of fossil fuels have brought the need for new energy sources to the international stage. US president Barack Obama publicly supported the creation of new nuclear power plants in the United States as an alternative to fossil fuels” (“Nuclear Energy”). Also, as the years go by, nuclear energy is becoming a source that unites many nations around the world. For example, last year the global community came together in Paris, France, where leaders and representatives from almost every nation discussed the problem of global warming and what the world can do to slow this increasingly dangerous issue. The main goal was to knock down the net of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere to zero. Although many thought that this would be impossible, after much discussion they realized that it would not be too difficult by using nuclear energy. This plan has proven to be effective by both France’s and Sweden’s dramatic drop in carbon emissions by using nuclear energy (Newsela Staff). Therefore, with global warming increasing, and there being a lack of alternative energy sources to which to turn, nuclear power is becoming increasingly popular globally due to its many benefits
Fossil fuels are a primary source for providing energy throughout the United States. These sources of energy are causing many problems involving environment, health, and pollution. The solution? Nuclear power. Nuclear power is seen as a green energy that can improve global warming. However, there a more issues that can result from using nuclear power. Even though there are a lot of people who support it, nuclear power can result in world threatening problems. Nuclear waste, expense and time, and the threat regarding to war and terrorism are constant issues related to nuclear power.
An example of the environmental success nuclear energy has provided is France in the 1970s and 1980s. The country switched from using fossil fuels and instead used nuclear energy to supply 78% of its electricity (see figure 3). This in turn lowered the country’s greenhouse emissions by approximately 2% each year since. No accidents have ever occurred at any of France's power plants (Biello, 2013).
For years, many scientists, environmentalists, and energy experts have been studying how human’s creation and use of energy has impacted our environment. These experts have discovered some troubling facts. Most of our country’s energy is created from burning fossil fuels that pollute our atmosphere, contribute to global warming, and thus threaten the future of our planet. But there’s a safe and effective solution to this problem: nuclear power. Nuclear power should be used more in the United States to create clean power that doesn’t pollute our environment, in order to help combat climate change.
Throughout history, the source of energy that powers the world has advanced alongside technology. The power on which civilization thrives has to be in accordance to the demand at which it is required. As technology evolves, objects from which energy can be extracted can expanded exponentially. In the status quo, the United States is trying to limit the greenhouse gas emissions instead of just switching power sources which is the wrong direction they should be going in. [Thesis] Instead of wasting their time and money investing in burning coal as their main source of power, countries and their governments need to assist in the transition to a more cost effective and efficient form of energy in the form of nuclear energy.
Nuclear power, the type of energy that sits on the edge of humanity’s greatest hopes, and its darkest fears. With a country such as the United States continuing to expand its industry, housing, agriculture and commercial buildings there is a need for more and more energy each year. Nuclear power is one of the many ways the United States gets its energy. Nevertheless, it is one of the most controversial means of energy production. The main concern with nuclear energy is the nuclear waste that is produced along with it. The potential health and environmental risks posed by nuclear waste is what truly scares some of the American public. Therefore, is the amount of energy output by nuclear power plants outweigh the potential risks that nuclear waste can have on human health and the environment? Nuclear power plants should be kept as a means of generating energy for the United States, however, transportation and storage of nuclear waste needs to continuously be checked for safer alternatives.
Expanding the generation of electricity by nuclear fission is the most effective way to reduce global climate change, which is a threat to U.S. national security. Rising sea levels, more extreme storms, heat waves, and drought, increases global conflict and instability. Climate change aggravates poverty, feeds political volatility, and allows more safe havens for terrorist activity abroad. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, across the globe is the only viable way at present to slow the effects of climate change. Increasing our use of nuclear power, which produces electricity without air pollution, is critical to those efforts.
From the electricity that kept my home warm and powered the lights at school to providing employment to both my parents for the past 30 years, nuclear power has been at the center of my life growing up. In Wadsworth, Texas, the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company has been a way a life thousands of people by providing nearly 1200 jobs and providing carbon-free electricity for over 2 million people. However, this is just one example in just one state in the United States. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, 11 percent of the world’s energy comes from nuclear power plants and for 13 countries it provides more than 25 percent of their country’s energy. However, even though nuclear power has made its mark as a global competitor in the realm of green energy, incidents such as 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima have created a global sense of uneasiness. On top of this underlying fear, the huge building costs of new nuclear plants has lead to a stunt in the growth of nuclear energy even though operation costs for nuclear energy at $0.0219/kW is less than that of coal ($0.023/KW) and almost half that of gas ($0.0451/kW) (IER). Even though nuclear energy has had some setbacks, it is still safer (short-term and long-term) than the carbon-producing alternatives. The question at hand is whether we should take an utilitarian perspective by giving more serious consideration to the long-term effects of the carbon-emitting energy sources and whether we can overcome our
In 2013, a study conducted by NASA shows that nuclear energy has “prevented 1.84 million deaths from 1971 to 2009 with an average of 79,000 deaths (prevented)/ year from 2000 to 2009 (Kharecha and Hansen, 3). Even if one were to include the death tolls from both Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear energy ranks last in death per unit generated per year (see fig. 2). And although nuclear waste is toxic and harmful to humans (as it can cause cancer and death), it is usually stored in a safe location away from other resources and most importantly, away from humans. On the other hand, the toxic byproducts of fossil fuels are being released into the air every day. And by reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned, countless cases of cancer and lung disease as well as coal mining accidents have been avoided. For as long as nations use fossil fuels, nuclear energy saves much more lives than it
Fossil fuels are criticized for contributing to the “global warming” theory, and the “greenhouse effect” blamed on unregulated industry, and transference pollution in our atmosphere. While energy preservation and education are important, it doesn’t solve the long-term problem: energy is needed and is increasing in demand as technology and our way of life advances. It is not possible to install a solar panel on every house, or a windmill on every hill. Fueling the future is a growing challenge for the world. At the current rate of consumption, fossil fuels will soon run out. Nuclear energy is clearly one of the best answers to our energy problems. Nuclear power system produce a tremendous amount of energy for their mass and are very safe when
Nuclear energy has been a fundamental subject of examination for a good length of time. Everybody knows global warming is going on yet nobody entirely knows the most ideal approach to battle it. Though it is one arrangement we're attempting to make sense of, is it the best one? Numerous think nuclear energy is the solution, some believe it's too excessive and perilous. Demonstrating there are a few difficulties and issues there are also many focal points to form an opinion on. Everybody's side is a critical
Nuclear power has been one of the largest contributors of energy for the past fifty years. With the end of World War II, research into nuclear energies shifted away from war applications to simply using it to power the world. Nuclear power was regarded as the never ending energy source that would bring an end to energy problems and power the whole world. For many years it seemed to work with no problems; however, that was a short lived reality. As problems with nuclear energy came to light, many believed it was a better investment for the future to research and develop new energy sources or just continue using fossil fuels. Many believe the risks and downsides of nuclear power outweigh the benefits. However, there are still many advocates of nuclear power that believe it is the best energy source for the world for reasons such as its large production of energy, their belief that it is not a major harm to the environment, and their belief that it is better than the other energy alternatives. However, in spite of these beliefs and facts, research into nuclear power opposes the belief that nuclear power should be the main contributor of power because they are expensive to build and can result in a catastrophic situations.
Nuclear energy is the largest source of emission free energy. It is the only large scale energy source that will be able to cope with the world's growing economy. Another a positive way to look at nuclear energy’s positive impact on the world is to remember that 135 million cars would have been eliminated if nuclear energy was replaced with oil or coal burning. The United States would have had to do that just to lower the gas emission rates.
New energy sources are invested in every year to produce heat and electricity for the citizens of the United States. However, nuclear power is becoming a much more urgent discussion topic. Nuclear power, or the use of nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity, contributes to nearly 20% of the electricity generated and used in America. According to the Department of Energy, the United States has invested 60 years of their time into nuclear power! But why have we done so? Well, the production of nuclear energy helps produce reliable, low-carbon energy, and supports national defense activities. Additionally, the Department of Energy also works to advance nuclear power as a resource capable of making magnificent contributions in
For the past 50 years, the United States has been using nuclear energy as one of it’s main non-renewable energy sources. The source of nuclear energy comes from nuclear power plants, which efficiently generates large quantities of energy and has low greenhouse gas emissions, compared to traditional coal power plants. Currently, there are 61 nuclear power plants operating in the U.S. and using nuclear power plants as a main energy source has always been a controversial problem within U.S. society. By the time nuclear power plants bring people convenience, they bring more disadvantages instead.
The world as we know today is dependent on energy. The options we have currently enable us to produce energy economically but at a cost to the environment. As fossil fuel source will be diminishing over time, other alternatives will be needed. An alternative that is presently utilized is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is currently the most efficacious energy source. Every time the word ‘nuclear’ is mentioned, the first thought that people have is the devastating effects of nuclear energy. Granting it does come with its drawbacks; this form of energy emits far less pollution than conventional power plants. Even though certain disadvantages of nuclear energy are devastating, the advantages contain even greater rewards.