Three-Mile Island accident, Chernobyl disaster, and Fukushima disaster. These three nuclear disasters are by far the worst nuclear accidents worldwide; however, has society reached a point where we should harness the power of nuclear energy and explore the opportunities?
According to the World Nuclear Association, “clean energy now provides about 11% of the world’s electricity from about 450 power reactors.” Nuclear has the possibility to decrease our reliance on coal and gas sources that continue to pollute the atmosphere and degrade the air quality and purity. France is one of the leading countries that obtain three-fourths of its electricity production from nuclear power, while in the USA only one-fifth of electricity is from nuclear. There is a clear need to increase the generation of electricity and replace fossil fuels, but just how feasible and safe is a nuclear power plant?
Nuclear energy is the energy in the nucleus, or core, of an atom. A nuclear plant uses refined uranium fuel to generate electricity through a process known as fission (GE). Fission is the process of splitting uranium atoms in an enclosed nuclear reactor. Uranium fuel is comprised of small pellets made out of ceramic that is later packaged into long tubes. It is incredible that a pellet about the size of a pencil eraser can produce an enormous amount of energy. Additionally, uranium is one of the most abundant metals so it will exist naturally in the environment for generations to come.
With pretty much every source that can provide clean energy, tradeoffs are always going to be present. So, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages closely.
|
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
| Low environmental impact | Low net energy yield |
| Low risk of accidents in modern-day plants | Promotes spread of nuclear weapons |
| Emits 1/6 as much CO2 as coal | Large overall cost |
| Large fuel supply | Results in harmful radioactive wastes |
One of the largest problems posed by turning to nuclear energy is the harmful radioactive waste. But let’s remember, nuclear power is the only large-scale energy technology that takes full responsibility for its wastes products and accounts for those additional costs. Not to mention, the radioactive waste generated through nuclear energy is relatively low compared to other thermal producing technologies. Most of the waste results from the burning of uranium to produce electricity, but all toxic waste is highly regulated and must be stored in specific locations and in certain containers. Yet, the fact still remains that nuclear energy is not renewable. Renewable sources are solar, hydro, wind, geothermal, and biomass, where each natural source replenishes to overcome resource depletion. In comparison, nuclear energy uses uranium which is an abundant, but not an infinitely abundant resource. Currently, researchers are investigating plutonium production as it could give nuclear power the status of a renewable source. The conversion to plutonium would generate even larger amounts of energy while resulting in sustainable nuclear reactions.
Now let’s see, do the benefits outweigh the costs? As the famous Law of the Conservation of Energy goes, “energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.” With that in mind, nuclear reactors are reliable, “producing power over 90% of the time” and “[operating] for more than 40 years” (Conserve Energy Future). More importantly, nuclear reactors emit NO GREENHOUSE GASES, I repeat, NO GREENHOUSE GASES! Additionally, nuclear power is more efficient and cost-effective compared to alternative energy sources.
Nuclear energy is yet still controversial and why? I know for sure that I would not want to be living right next to a nuclear power plant, aka NOT IN MY BACKYARD. Environmentalist groups and residents continue to acknowledge the chance of nuclear disasters and the possible consequences that could be released from relying on this technology. At some point, when do we decide that we must take a risk to ensure that we don’t continue to pollute the air that we breathe for the generations to come?
I believe that nuclear energy is well on its way to being integrated as the leading source of energy production in the United States and worldwide, but it will not be happening anytime soon. Adjustments still need to be made to ensure a nuclear failure/accident would never occur and the safe processing of radioactive waste products.
References:
1.) World Nuclear Association. (2018, February). Nuclear power in the world today. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today.aspx
2.) What is Nuclear Power and Energy? | GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. (2018). Retrieved from https://nuclear.gepower.com/company-info/nuclear-power-basics
3.) The Laws of Thermodynamics. (n.d.). Boundless Chemistry. Retrieved February 24, 2018 from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-chemistry/chapter/the-laws-of-thermodynamics/
4.) Advantages of Nuclear Energy. (2017, May 13). Retrieved from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages_nuclearenergy.php
Sources:
-https://www.nuclear-power.net
-https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-nuclear-fission-illustration-white-background-image35501453
-http://www.atox.co.jp/english/business/atom_enterprise/radiationremove.html
-https://journal-neo.org/2017/11/14/the-us-neglects-the-safety-of-nuclear-power-plants-in-europe/
Hi Keri,
This was such an interesting read! I really liked the diagrams you incorporated and how you explained the chemical and physical concepts of nuclear fission so simply yet effectively. I also liked how balanced you were on this post by giving an equal amount of weight to the advantages and disadvantages of using nuclear energy.
As for my opinion on whether nuclear energy should be further integrated in renewable energy or not, I think that it would greatly benefit our environmental crisis if it were. I know that there are huge risks and consequences if the wrong people get a hold of it and if there is a leakage. However, I still think that once we perfect using it, at least problems like leakages won’t be a common occurrence. Overtime, we will perfect it so much that maybe there will be little to no toxic wastes from it. In addition to preventing leaks, we will also need to work towards preventing the effects created by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
On a brighter note, bringing in new technology like nuclear energy will also be beneficial economically because it will create more jobs and increase the green GDP of the economy. Not only this, but it is also a cheaper energy source compared to gasoline!
However, I do agree in your point about there needing to be more research before a solid conclusion should be made. I just hope that whenever the time will come that nuclear energy will dominate any other source of energy, the power will be in good hands and will be used responsibly.
Overall, I think that the topic you chose to write about was very relevant and thought-provoking. I’ll be looking forward to your next post! Have a great spring break 😊
Source:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/heres-how-american-scientists-plan-to-prevent-the-next-nuclear-disaster/452946/
http://www.egcitizen.com/news/why-we-should-use-more-nuclear-power-as-an-energy/article_3e1cd6c5-c1c6-5200-8818-f94260bac842.html
Keri, I think that this is such a great article! I completely agree that nuclear power is the future of our world as it is so clean and energy efficient. However, as someone who can see two nuclear towers from my window, it is definitely a scary thought to have them popping up everywhere as a nuclear meltdowns historically have caused such devastating effects. Another point that I would say to point out is that my town, because we are in such close proximity to the nuclear power plant, has additional safety measures that we have to abide by such as running our alarm on the first Monday of the moth that alerts everyone that there is something wrong with the power plant. I agree that although there is a huge benefit to having cleaner power such as keeping climate change under control, it is also an inconvenience to the citizens that have to live in fear that something devastating could occur. Also it is hard to believe that in this day in age coal is still the main source of power because of how many fossil fuels it emits into the air. We need to look into different energy sources to preserve the ozone layer of the planet .On the other hand, Forbes recently published an article stating, “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a tiny nuclear reactor that is perfect for powering a colony on Mars or the Moon, fueling a large spacecraft to a distant star, or operating a mining operation in the asteroid belt” (Forbes). The capability to put people on another planet and also have it be completely powered by clean energy is a HUGE feat and it is so amazing that this type of energy has the power to provide life on another planet. I think that we need to move towards these huge breakthroughs in clean energy in order to make for a cleaner planet and a more progressive civilization.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2018/02/01/martian-and-lunar-colonies-to-be-powered-by-nuclear-energy/#cf21b514140f
Great piece Keri! I think that lots of people have an aversion to nuclear power just because the word “nuclear” makes people immediately think of nuclear weaponry, but they do not realize that the two exist completely separately from one another. In my opinion, the world should really be pushing for the expansion of nuclear power. Sure, there have been some incidents but the science has come a very long way since then, and scientists and engineers are completely capable of generating nuclear energy very safely. You brought up a good point that although nuclear waste is dangerous, the nuclear energy industry is the only one which takes full responsibility for it’s waste. It’s sort of crazy that it is the only form of energy which gets held accountable for it’s waste.
The Scientific American printed an article which states that nuclear energy accounts for two thirds of clean energy in the United States with only five reactors. It is understandable that people do not want to live in close proximity to nuclear reactors in case of the worst. But if that much energy is being generated with only five reactors, I feel there must be enough locations to put even a dozen more without offending the local population. Perhaps tax breaks for people living near reactors would be a solution as well.
All in all, I think that nuclear power deserves much more attention than it gets. Even though uranium is not a renewable resource, it is clean and abundant and can potentially solve a lot of our energy problems until we can go completely renewable.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nuclear-power-critical-to-u-s-climate-goals/
This was a super interesting post, Keri. I did not know much about what was actually used in the process of making nuclear power or how it was made. That is a very interesting point that you bring up how it uses uranium, which is not renewable. I think this is important for people to know because while it is abundant, it won’t last forever. I would be concerned that if we ever were to become very reliant on nuclear power (very far into the future) then we would end up depleting the earth of uranium, too. We used to have large amounts of coal and natural gas, but are now already close to running out. I don’t know how much uranium we have, so am not sure how long it will last, but is it possible that we could outlast it and then be left with no means of producing nuclear power?
Personally, I think that nuclear power is a good source of energy, not great. I am proud of Pennsylvania, because although one may think our main source of power comes from coal with all the mining towns, it’s actually nuclear power! Of course, I am mostly just a fan of nuclear power because of the fact that it does not result in more greenhouse gases. While nuclear meltdowns are certainly possible and very destructive, they are few and far between. I think it is totally worth it to take the risk to prevent more harmful greenhouse gases, although ideally we would be focusing on using more renewable energy sources.