Nuclear Energy
An Argumentative Essay “Use of Nuclear Energy: Safe or Not?”
23 Aug
Most countries today are becoming more and more dependent on nuclear power as a source of energy because of its high energy output and the availability of uranium used for fuelling nuclear reactors that generate power to provide electricity in households. Although using nuclear power as a source of energy has benefits like this, the danger posed by using nuclear power is very eminent. This was demonstrated in the recent Fukushima daiichi nuclear reactor crisis wherein the reactors as of March 24, 2011 at Fukushima emitted 30,000 to 110,000 TBq of Iodine 131 much higher compared to Chernobyl’s 760 PBq or 400 kg of I-131, 85 PBq Cs-137 (Shimbun, 2011). Another widely known nuclear reactor accident was the Chernobyl disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986 (Black, 2011).
Threats not only exists in accidents like the ones mentioned, but also threats exists not only from terrorists but also from other countries who have acquired or made nuclear weapons. An all out war will probably see the use of nuclear weapons against each nation’s enemy resulting in a nuclear holocaust. Millions of people will die not only from the initial explosions of the nuclear bombs but also from the following nuclear fallout that will cause widespread radiation sickness.
A German study showed that there is a statistically significant increase solid cancers (54%), and in leukemia (76%) in children aged less than 5 within 5 km of 15 German nuclear power plant sites (Fairlie, 2009).
Use of nuclear energy has two advantages over fossil-fuel plants. (1) Nuclear reactors use less fuel than a fossil-fuel plant to generate the same amount of energy a fossil-fuel plant generates. The fissioning of 1 metric ton of uranium fuel provides the same amount of heat energy as burning of 3 million metric tons of coal or 12 million barrels of oil. (2) Uranium, unlike fossil fuels, does not produce chemical or solid pollutants that are
23 Aug
Most countries today are becoming more and more dependent on nuclear power as a source of energy because of its high energy output and the availability of uranium used for fuelling nuclear reactors that generate power to provide electricity in households. Although using nuclear power as a source of energy has benefits like this, the danger posed by using nuclear power is very eminent. This was demonstrated in the recent Fukushima daiichi nuclear reactor crisis wherein the reactors as of March 24, 2011 at Fukushima emitted 30,000 to 110,000 TBq of Iodine 131 much higher compared to Chernobyl’s 760 PBq or 400 kg of I-131, 85 PBq Cs-137 (Shimbun, 2011). Another widely known nuclear reactor accident was the Chernobyl disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986 (Black, 2011).
Threats not only exists in accidents like the ones mentioned, but also threats exists not only from terrorists but also from other countries who have acquired or made nuclear weapons. An all out war will probably see the use of nuclear weapons against each nation’s enemy resulting in a nuclear holocaust. Millions of people will die not only from the initial explosions of the nuclear bombs but also from the following nuclear fallout that will cause widespread radiation sickness.
A German study showed that there is a statistically significant increase solid cancers (54%), and in leukemia (76%) in children aged less than 5 within 5 km of 15 German nuclear power plant sites (Fairlie, 2009).
Use of nuclear energy has two advantages over fossil-fuel plants. (1) Nuclear reactors use less fuel than a fossil-fuel plant to generate the same amount of energy a fossil-fuel plant generates. The fissioning of 1 metric ton of uranium fuel provides the same amount of heat energy as burning of 3 million metric tons of coal or 12 million barrels of oil. (2) Uranium, unlike fossil fuels, does not produce chemical or solid pollutants that are