Nuclear Power :: Papers

Nuclear Power Entering the twenty-first century, six billion people inhabit the earth. A number that is expected to double in a hundred and twenty years, yet only 4% of that world population live in the United States. Even though the United States has only 4% of the population of the world, it still uses 25% of the world’s resources. Coal and oil are a major energy provider around the world, particularly in the US. Countries without these abundances have turned to nuclear energy, due to its supreme effectiveness. Nuclear energy produces more energy per unit weight than coal and oil, releases no pollutants into the atmosphere, and is less cancer causing than the burning of coal and oil. Yet nuclear power has been attacked in the US since the day that it was instituted as being a non-safe and environmentally non-friendly form of energy. Right now the United States does not have to worry about running out of fossil fuels for a long time, even though they generate 51.7% of the US’s power , and power almost all forms of modern transportation. But what happens down the road, when all of the natural resources are gone? In many countries, such as France, nuclear power is accepted and welcome. Why is this not the same way in the US? The media and all forms of entertainment have misconstrued the facts of nuclear energy. The word unsafe is synonymous with nuclear power in this country, but time has shown that there is so reason for this feeling. Americans do not hold the facts on this issue. They have the unwarranted fears of a mass and free speaking culture. Nuclear energy is safe, clean, and effective. The voice that is heard among the people is that nuclear energy is unsafe to the environment. There should be no debate about the environmental concerns of nuclear power. If there is anything that makes nuclear power unpractical it is government spending. Nuclear power is the cleanest form of power for a rapidly increasing world population. Nuclear reactors produce electri city by the fission of uranium, not the burning of fossil fuels. Nuclear power does not emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate soot, or greenhouse gases. In countries around the world nuclear energy is the largest source of emission-free electrical generation. Making one million kilowatt-hours of electricity in a natural gas power plant produces 550 tons of carbon dioxide. Producing the same amount in an oil-fired plant makes 850 tons of carbon dioxide and 1,110 in a coal plant.