When discussing alternatives for the type of energy we should use, nuclear power is a replacement that is brought up very often. Many Americans have questioned as to whether nuclear energy is safe enough to use as a source of electricity. Nuclear power can be a factor in many social, economic and environmental issues. People who support the usage of nuclear energy would argue that there are minimal consequences for nuclear power. Although that is true for the present, the future consequences that the next generations would have to deal with are great in number. While there are indeed advantages to using nuclear energy, it is clear that the disadvantages are far more serious. .
Nuclear energy is created when a process called fission takes place. This process begins when an atom is bombarded with a subatomic particle and split in two. When this happens, heat energy is created and the heated tubes are then put into water in order to create steam. The steam is then taken to an electric generator. Uranium is the atom most typically used for this process. Another process used to create nuclear energy is fusion. This occurs when two atoms with low atomic numbers come together to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy. Unfortunately, this method cannot be used because the conditions (high temperature and pressure) that can be used in that process are only found on the sun. During these processes, little to no greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide), which destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global warming, are produced.
Nuclear energy does however create nuclear waste which is highly radioactive. Radioactive materials have been known to cause birth defects, cancer, and, in serious situations, death. An example of the disasters nuclear energy can cause is the atom bomb dropped in Japan during WWII. Many people were completely obliterated because of the bomb.
We may soon run out of some of our nonrenewable resources. ... Some examples of nonrenewable resources are coal, oil, natural gas, and minerals. ... People were looking for a new source of power. Solar, geothermal, and wind power developed. ... Most of this research ended in 1980, with the expansion of nuclear energy. ...
To whom it may concern: We, mini experts on nuclear fission, believe that 20 million dollars should be contributed to help fund further research for nuclear fission. ... This type of energy can be created through nuclear fission. Cost and availability of fuel is a considerable factor when dealing with nuclear power. ... Moreover, without nuclear and nonrenewables, we are reliant on our current energy diet of fossil fuels and the consequences of their combustion for global warming. ... Even with these new, safer reactor designs, we acknowledge that a resurgence in use of nuclear power re...
There are two basic groups of energy: renewable energy, such as solar power, and nonrenewable energy, such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy. ... Nuclear energy use contains various factors to be examined through costs to run a nuclear power plant, a comparison to other energy sources, and environmental concerns. Costs of nuclear power plants can vary for many reasons, such as location, raw materials, manufacturing, and much more. ... Although nuclear energy is considered a nonrenewable energy source, nuclear energy creates a whopping amount of energy versus fossil fuels[Nuc131]. ... Eco...
But coal is nonrenewable and it is predicted the worlds coal reserves would be gone within the next forty to fifty years."" ... A resource that is more expensive and more polluting that hydropower, nuclear power, is also used today in some parts of the country. ... Nuclear energy occurs in two types of power plants. ... Nuclear power is the most widely used form of renewable resource; it generates nearly twenty percent of the world's electricity (Energy and Matter, 2). Nuclear energy is not very expensive to produce, compared to the other forms of energy, but solar power is the most ex...
The amount of energy left for future generations is uncertain because humans heavily rely on nonrenewable energy. Humans will eventually make a bigger transition onto renewable energy but since it is not yet as efficient as nonrenewable energy, humans have to conserve as much of the energy that is given (Recycling, Opposing). ... Schools could be built, the land could be farmed, and it could even be used for something like a nuclear power plant location (Recycling, Opposing). ...
The nonrenewable resource that once made up almost all materials and products no longer exists. ... Although wood, hydropower, coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear fission are other alternate forms of energy, petroleum was the most widely used source (ChemCom, 191). ... A refillable natural gas tank, which can power an automobile about 250 miles, can be easily stored in a car's trunk (ChemCom, 226). ... Other alternative energy sources are currently in use or being researched, such as hydropower, wind power, nuclear fission and fusion, along with solar and geothermal energy....
These plants, which include coal, nuclear, oil and gas, not only create a lot of pollution and other harmful effects, but they also use valuable, nonrenewable resources. ... These alternate power sources include solar energy, wind power and hydroelectricity. Hydroelectric power is a great alternative to conventional ways of generating power. ... About 40 percent of its power comes from hydroelectric power. ... A great alternative to conventional power supplies is hydroelectric power. ...
Oil means power. ... The goal was not increased supplies or reduced prices for Americans and their government, but stripping Saddam of his power and establishing a new Iraqi government. ... Alternative Energy Sources: Some of the nonrenewable energy sources are; oil sands/heavy oil, natural gas, coal, shale oil, gas hydrates, and nuclear fission. ... We highly underestimate the power that can be harnessed with the world's oil supply. ... Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of mass destruction, chemical warfare, and the rivalries between different countries, are all just very clear signs that we are ...
This dilemma is only made worse due to the current means of disposing nuclear waste. ... "Radiation from nuclear waste is known to cause a series of reactions in body tissue that results in damage to the bodies cells"(Daley). ... This process of recycling items does not take more nonrenewable resources from the earth but instead reuses the current ones we are already are using so the nonrenewable resources are available to us when we really need them. ... It is usually produced by a power plant of some sort. Depending on the plant some kind of pollution is being produced whether its air pol...
In a time where nonrenewable energy resources are being imported at $460 billion a year, alternative sources of energy are being experimented to take the place of petroleum products7. Geothermal, solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen and biofuels are used to power automobiles and give electricity to housing communities around the nation8. ... Nuclear energy plants already account for 20% of our total energy costs, and the majority is due to cost of maintenance13. ... The expense of a current power plant is staggering, with $35.8 billion being input solely to the disposal of nuclear waste15. These imp...