What is Nuclear Energy?
Nuclear energy is energy released from the nucleus of an atom as a result of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and radioactive decay. The amount of energy produced by a given quantity of uranium is about 2,500,000 times greater than the amount of energy produced from an equal amount of carbon. Nuclear reactors are typically found in electric generators and aboard nuclear ships and submarines.
Nuclear energy is a clean, semi-renewable, reliable, and safe energy source. In a future where oil and natural gas reserves dwindle, nuclear power is the only source of energy that has the ability to proliferate modern industrial civilization. Nuclear energy must be deployed quickly to replace coal, oil, and natural gas if we are serious about the reduction of atmospheric CO2.
Benefits of Nuclear Energy
1.) Nuclear energy produces almost no carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, or nitrogen dioxides all of which are incredibly abundant when fossil fuels from other sources are burned.
2.) Waste from production of nuclear energy is a mere fraction of what is produced from the burning of fossil fuels. The amount of nuclear waste produced by an average family of four over their lifetimes is about the size of a golfball. Comparatively the consumption of 1 barrel of oil can produce in excess of 430kg of carbon dioxide. 97% of nuclear waste in the form of uranium and plutonium is recycled from the process and reused to create even more energy. Furthermore, spent fuel rods used in nuclear reactors are simply stored away in deep geological storage sites where nuclear waste decays over time. Chemical waste such as mercury and lead persist in the environment for years.
3.) Nuclear energy is safe. In over 50 years of use, the technology has matured and grown more efficient. Not surprisingly, many people turn to Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and recently, Japan as examples of the dangers of nuclear energy. Let’s think of it this way, every year 40,000 people die in the U.S. in automobile accidents whereas an average of 200 people die in airplane crashes, yet every time an airplane crashes it makes headline news. Car accidents occur every day and many are forgotten after a short amout of time. The same goes for nuclear energy. TMI, Chernobyl and Japan will be remembered for years to come, but in the 50 years of nuclear energy less people have died from nuclear accidents than any one year in the fossil fuel industries. Coal mine accidents are common as are oil field incidents. Oil tankers have contributed to some of the worst natural disasters. Oil and gas refineries have experienced accidents, some resulting in the loss of all workers. High pressure gas lines are a constant danger in the natural gas industry.
4.) Nuclear energy supplies are inexaustable. The primary fuel in nuclear energy, uranium, is present everywhere in the earth’s crust. Major deposits are in Canada and Austrailia. At the rate in which uranium is consumed, we will not run out for thousands of years. Oil and natural gas resources are expected to run out by the year 2100. As a shortage of fossil fuel becomes ever more apparent, the production of nuclear energy becomes more important to the continuation of modern industrial civilization.
5.) Nuclear power plants are small and compact. A typical plant may take up the space of a single football or baseball stadium and the surrounding parking lots.
6.) The price of nuclear energy supplies is competitive. As the price of oil and other fossil fuels fluctuates as supply and demand dictates, the price of nuclear energy supplies is stable and cheap.
Nuclear Energy is the Way of the Future
In order to maintain the industrial and economic aspirations of developed and emerging nations without compromising the integrity of earth’s atmosphere, new methods of obtaining our energy needs must be developed. Nuclear energy is the only source of energy that can meet these needs. Production of coal, oil, and gas energy is polluting, non-efficient, and unsafe. Large amounts of unsafe chemicals and other waste are spewed daily into the earth’s atmosphere creating problems such as acid rain, smog, and an ever more dangerous green house effect. Furthermore, oil and gas supplies are limited. It is estimated that modern human civilization will have consumed all the quantities of oil and gas the earth has to offer in a time frame of 1850 to 2100. After this shortage comes, our options for energy will be between, nuclear, coal, solar, and wind among others. Coal is the most polluting source of energy currently available and solar and wind are produced in such low quantities that it is impossible for them to sufficiently provide enough energy for an ultra-modern society. Creation of new nuclear power plants must take place if the standard of human existence is to be upheld.
Literary Sources
“Chemical Waste.” Office of Research Facilities Development and Operations. 17 March 2011. http://orf.od.nih.gov/Environmental+Protection/Waste+Disposal/chemicalwaste.htm.
Comby, Bruno. “Benefits of Nuclear Energy.” Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy. 17 March 2011. http://www.ecolo.org/intro/introen.htm.
“Nuclear Energy.” The American Heritage Science Dictionary. 2005. Houghton Mifflin Company. 17 March 2011.
