Nuclear Energy vs. Geothermal Energy
The future of the human race largely depends on the advancement in efficient, clean, high out-put energy production. As a civilization we need not focus on what the past has held for energy production but rather what the present and future hold for us. Two key options are the long lasting, high out-put but environmentally hazardous option which is nuclear fission (nuclear power) and the safe but potential ground water contamination hazard which is geothermal energy. This paper will point out strictly fact based information on both forms of energy and which one shows the most potential as the dominate energy producer for the United States.
Nuclear energy was first discovered by a French man named Henri Becquerel in 1896. “He found that photographic plates stored in the dark near uranium were blackened like X-ray plates, which had been just recently discovered at the time” (Our-Energy). Energy from a nuclear reactor is created when water is boiled from a uranium rod and the steam then turns a steam turbine or by pressurizing water. “Nuclear power can come from the fission or uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Today it is almost all uranium. The basic energy fact is that the fission of an atom of uranium produces 10 million times the energy produced by the combustion of an atom of carbon from coal” (Our-Energy).
Essentially nuclear energy is a conversion of mass into energy, Albert Einstein’s famous equation best describes this event, E=mc2. This event occurs when the atom is split or the nucleus is forced into other nuclei of other atoms. The sun’s type of nuclear power is nuclear fusion; this event is occurs when hydrogen atoms fuse into helium atoms.
Since the driving force for nuclear reactors is steam, there is virtually zero harmful pollutants put into Earth 's atmosphere. “Nuclear power is the only industry which takes full responsibility for all its wastes, and costs this into the product” in the United States
Nuclear energy was first discovered by a French man named Henri Becquerel in 1896. “He found that photographic plates stored in the dark near uranium were blackened like X-ray plates, which had been just recently discovered at the time” (Our-Energy). Energy from a nuclear reactor is created when water is boiled from a uranium rod and the steam then turns a steam turbine or by pressurizing water. “Nuclear power can come from the fission or uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Today it is almost all uranium. The basic energy fact is that the fission of an atom of uranium produces 10 million times the energy produced by the combustion of an atom of carbon from coal” (Our-Energy).
Essentially nuclear energy is a conversion of mass into energy, Albert Einstein’s famous equation best describes this event, E=mc2. This event occurs when the atom is split or the nucleus is forced into other nuclei of other atoms. The sun’s type of nuclear power is nuclear fusion; this event is occurs when hydrogen atoms fuse into helium atoms.
Since the driving force for nuclear reactors is steam, there is virtually zero harmful pollutants put into Earth 's atmosphere. “Nuclear power is the only industry which takes full responsibility for all its wastes, and costs this into the product” in the United States
References: "Nuclear Energy Facts." Our Energy. Our Energy, 09 Dec. 2007. Web. . Fairly, Peter. "Nuclear Wasteland." IEE Spectrum. Inside Technology, Feb. 2007. Web. . United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Radioactive Waste. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 16 Aug. 2010. Web. . Geothermal Energy: Power from the Earth - Unleash the Future - Environmental Defense Fund." Environmental Defense Fund - Finding the Ways That Work. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. . "Geothermal Energy." Our-Energy. 05 Aug. 2007. Web. . "Geothermal Energy Association Key Geothermal Laws." Geothermal Energy Association. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. .