The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power Plants
Fears
As we learn about all of the different ways to power our planet we have to understand that there are in fact tradeoffs no matter what option we choose. I’m not sure where I read the quote but I stumbled across a comment that stated “we were afraid of fire once too” this just means that we have to understand that no matter what we choose the past has helped pave the way to making whatever we chose a safer more efficient way to give us power. Imagine the thousands of people that have died from mining coal or building dams like the Hoover to harness the power of water. Basically new technologies carry with them new risks to fear but the bottom line is we will do what we need to do in order to make sure we have power and as we progress we will make sure the new technology is safer.
Recent Disaster
For all intents and purposes the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and its six reactors actually …show more content…
Radioactive isotopes could be detected as far afield as tap water in Tokyo, several hundred miles to the south, and in rain in Massachusetts at least an ocean and a continent away. Around the world, the disaster brings up the long debate over nuclear plant safety, and it pointed out exactly what we have been learning over the course of this class, the complex environmental calculus behind our global energy consumption and production. The actual health-related effects of the radiation exposure will not be fully understood for some time. But if past nuclear disasters are any guide, they may well manifest themselves as somewhat higher rates of certain cancers in exposed populations. Just exactly how extensive the damage is, particularly in light of aggressive efforts to contain it, will take some years to discern. (Chu S.
As we learn about all of the different ways to power our planet we have to understand that there are in fact tradeoffs no matter what option we choose. I’m not sure where I read the quote but I stumbled across a comment that stated “we were afraid of fire once too” this just means that we have to understand that no matter what we choose the past has helped pave the way to making whatever we chose a safer more efficient way to give us power. Imagine the thousands of people that have died from mining coal or building dams like the Hoover to harness the power of water. Basically new technologies carry with them new risks to fear but the bottom line is we will do what we need to do in order to make sure we have power and as we progress we will make sure the new technology is safer.
Recent Disaster
For all intents and purposes the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and its six reactors actually …show more content…
Radioactive isotopes could be detected as far afield as tap water in Tokyo, several hundred miles to the south, and in rain in Massachusetts at least an ocean and a continent away. Around the world, the disaster brings up the long debate over nuclear plant safety, and it pointed out exactly what we have been learning over the course of this class, the complex environmental calculus behind our global energy consumption and production. The actual health-related effects of the radiation exposure will not be fully understood for some time. But if past nuclear disasters are any guide, they may well manifest themselves as somewhat higher rates of certain cancers in exposed populations. Just exactly how extensive the damage is, particularly in light of aggressive efforts to contain it, will take some years to discern. (Chu S.