Professor Kinkade RWS 280 Analysis of “Nuclear Waste” Richard A. Muller‚ an awardee of the MacArthur Fellowship and physics professor at UC Berkley‚ states in his 2008 essay “Nuclear Waste”‚ that Americans and the rest of the world are overly concerned with radioactive debris and the possibility of nuclear contamination. Muller first brings to light the most common fears of storing nuclear waste; volcanic activity in the Yucca Mountains‚ the area where the waste is stored‚ and the possibility of radioactive
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Many American’s assume that nuclear waste can be more dangerous than natural radioactive substances already present in the Earth currently. However‚ Richard Muller challenges this assumption in his chronicle “Nuclear Waste” by demonstrating the mathematical differences concerning the half-life of numerous radioactive substances. Basically‚ Muller is warning that “the dangers of storing our waste at Yucca Mountain to be small compared of the dangers of not doing so‚ and significantly smaller than
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Nuclear Waste by Richard A. Muller Nuclear waste is a radioactive waste that is dangerous‚ and a fair percentage of people would agree on this topic. However‚ is it really dangerous or is it just harmful to an extent? In society‚ many debates are held over trying to prove to the world that this substance is harmful. In the essay‚ “Nuclear Waste‚” Muller states clearly that he sides with the anti-nuke of the debate and how he pinpoints the facts of nuclear waste with great persuasion. Yet‚ it is
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Nuclear Waste Should be Disposed In one of his lectures “Nuclear Waste” Richard A. Muller‚ discussing the nuclear waste problem‚ scientists’ attempts to find the solution‚ and the public’s fear around it‚ gives the audience his personal evaluation. He makes a point that since the nuclear waste is here‚ we have to store it and storing at Yucca Mountain is not the worst option‚ because the dangers of storing it there is smaller than the dangers of not doing so. This lecture makes me recall the
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The disposal of nuclear waste is quickly becoming the most important issue facing the environmental community today. Nearly twenty percent of our nation’s electricity is being supplied by approximately 100 nuclear power plants that are operating in the United States. Currently‚ most of the nuclear waste created by these power plants is being housed temporarily in storage facilities and although the total amount of nuclear waste produced in one year is small‚ the need to find a permanent method
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1. Environmental impacts of nuclear waste. Nuclear waste or radioactive waste is the residue of nuclear reactors‚ nuclear researches‚ nuclear projects and nuclear bomb reaction. Nuclear wastes‚ also known as spent fuel‚ are dangerously radioactive and could exist for thousands of years. The release of nuclear waste from its reactor could easily cause a lot of diseases like acute radiation sickness. The injection of nuclear waste to underground water causes water pollution and could contribute
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Nuclear Waste: An Ongoing Issue In the United States‚ nuclear energy has been viewed as a cleaner and potentially limitless source of energy‚ especially compared to other fossil fuel sources such as coal and oil. There are over 100 reactors operating in the United States‚ which provide roughly 20% of the nation’s electricity.1 Of those reactors‚ there is no permanent waste disposal site currently existing in the U.S‚ after plans to build a facility in Yucca Mountain in Nevada were scrapped due
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Nuclear waste is dangerous just about anyone knows that. But is it really that dangerous or is it simply overstated? The answer to this question is a heated debate that involves everybody from politicians pushing for policy they don’t really understand to scientists who are trying to understand it to the public who take everything they hear as the truth. Honestly‚ I don’t even know if I can iron out the edges of this frenzied debate. Everyone‚ and that includes me‚ has their own perspective of the
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The case of the transportation of nuclear waste is topic that can cause strong feelings and reactions to the uncertainties and risks associated with this form of pollution. Now we are going to refer to each of the four key concepts of globalization to see what the notion tells us about the processes at work in this case study. The stretching of social relations in space is clear. The decisions taken about nuclear power and its production in the one-time USSR had horrible effects far away from
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90% of the volume‚ but only 1% of the radioactivity of all radioactive waste. High-level waste is from the burning of uranium fuel in a nuclear reactor (Dixon). It contains the dividing products and trans elements generated in the reactor. It is highly radioactive and hot due to excess heat‚ so it requires shielding and cooling. It has thermal power and can be considered as the ash from burning uranium. The radioactive waste problem is not a new safety and health concern. It has been mixed with radioactive
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