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Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power
To provide the power for a dynamo-electric machine, or electric generator, nuclear power plants rely on the process of nuclear fission. In this process, the nucleus of a heavy element, such as uranium, splits when bombarded by a free neutron in a nuclear reactor.(1) The fission process for uranium atoms yields two smaller atoms, one to three free neutrons, plus an amount of energy. Because more free neutrons are released from a uranium fission event than are required to initiate the event, the reaction can become self-sustaining–a chain reaction–under controlled conditions, thus producing a tremendous amount of energy.
In the vast majority of the world’s nuclear power plants, heat energy generated by burning uranium fuel is collected in ordinary water and is carried away from the reactor’s core either as steam in boiling water reactors or as superheated water in pressurized-water reactors. In a pressurized-water reactor, the superheated water in the primary cooling loop is used to transfer heat energy to a secondary loop for the creation of steam. In either a boiling-water or pressurized-water installation, steam under high pressure is the medium used to transfer the nuclear reactor’s heat energy to a turbine that mechanically turns a dynamo- electric machine, or electric generator. Boiling-water and pressurized-water reactors are called light-water reactors, because they utilize ordinary water to transfer the heat energy from reactor to turbine in the electricity generation process. In other reactor designs, the heat energy is transferred by pressurized heavy water, gas, or another cooling substance.
Because the water used to remove heat from the core in a light-water reactor absorbs some of the free neutrons normally generated during operation of the reactor, the concentration of the naturally fissionable 235U isotope in uranium used to fuel light-water reactors must be increased above the level of natural uranium to assist in sustaining the nuclear chain reaction in the reactor core: the remainder of the uranium in the fuel is 238U. Increasing the concentration of 235U in nuclear fuel uranium above the level that occurs in natural uranium is accomplished through the process of enrichment, which is explained below.
The fuel core for a light-water nuclear power reactor can have up to 3,000 fuel assemblies. An assembly consists of a group of sealed fuel rods, each filled with UO2 pellets, held in place by end plates and supported by metal spacer-grids to brace the rods and maintain the proper distances between them. The fuel core can be thought of as a reservoir from which heat energy can be extracted through the nuclear chain reaction process. During the operation of the reactor, the concentration of 235U in the fuel is decreased as those atoms undergo nuclear fission to create heat energy. Some 238U atoms are converted to atoms of fissile 239Pu, some of which will, in turn, undergo fission and produce energy. The products created by the nuclear fission reactions are retained within the fuel pellets and these become neutron-absorbing products (called “poisons”) that act to slow the rate of nuclear fission and heat production. As the reactor operation is continued, a point is reached at which the declining concentration of fissile nuclei in the fuel and the increasing concentration of poisons result in lower than optimal heat energy generation, and the reactor must be shut down temporarily and refueled.
The amount of energy in the reservoir of nuclear fuel is frequently expressed in terms of “full-power days,” which is the number of 24-hour periods (days) a reactor is scheduled for operation at full power output for the generation of heat energy. The number of full power days in a reactor’s operating cycle (between refueling outage times) is related to the amount of fissile 235U contained in the fuel assemblies at the beginning of the cycle. A higher percentage of 235U in the core at the beginning of a cycle will permit the reactor to be run for a greater number of full power days.
At the end of the operating cycle, the fuel in some of the assemblies is “spent,” and it is discharged and replaced with new (fresh) fuel assemblies. The fraction of the reactor’s fuel core replaced during refueling is typically one-fourth for a boiling-water reactor and one-third for a pressurized-water reactor.
The amount of energy extracted from nuclear fuel is called its “burn up,” which is expressed in terms of the heat energy produced per initial unit of fuel weight. Burn up is commonly expressed as megawatt days thermal per metric ton of initial heavy metal.
The nuclear fuel cycle for typical light-water reactors is illustrated in Figure A1. The cycle consists of “front end” steps that lead to the preparation of uranium for use as fuel for reactor operation and “back end” steps that are necessary to safely manage, prepare, and dispose of the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. Chemical processing of the spent fuel material to recover the remaining fractions of fissionable products, 235U and 239Pu, for use in fresh fuel assemblies is technically feasible. Reprocessing of spent commercial-reactor nuclear fuel is not permitted in the United States. The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle commonly is separated into the following steps.
Exploration. A deposit of uranium, discovered by geophysical techniques, is evaluated and sampled to determine the amounts of uranium materials that are extractable at specified costs from the deposit. Uranium reserves are the amounts of ore that are estimated to be recoverable at stated costs.
Mining. Uranium ore can be extracted through conventional mining in open pit and underground methods similar to those used for mining other metals. In situ leach mining methods also are used to mine uranium in the United States. In this technology, uranium is leached from the in-place ore through an array of regularly spaced wells and is then recovered from the leach solution at a surface plant. Uranium ores in the United States typically range from about 0.05 to 0.3 percent uranium oxide (U3O8). Some uranium deposits developed in other countries are of higher grade and are also larger than deposits mined in the United States. Uranium is also present in very low grade amounts (50 to 200 parts per million) in some domestic phosphate-bearing deposits of marine origin. Because very large quantities of phosphate-bearing rock are mined for the production of wet-process phosphoric acid used in high analysis fertilizers and other phosphate chemicals, at some phosphate processing plants the uranium, although present in very low concentrations, can be economically recovered from the process stream.
Milling. Mined uranium ores normally are processed by grinding the ore materials to a uniform particle size and then treating the ore to extract the uranium by chemical leaching. The milling process commonly yields dry powder-form material consisting of natural uranium, “yellowcake,” which is sold on the uranium market as U3O8.
Uranium conversion. Milled uranium oxide, U3O8, must be converted to uranium hexafluoride, UF6, which is the form required by most commercial uranium enrichment facilities currently in use. A solid at room temperature, UF6 can be changed to a gaseous form at moderately higher temperatures. The UF6 conversion product contains only natural, not enriched, uranium.
Enrichment. The concentration of the fissionable isotope, 235U (0.71 percent in natural uranium) is less than that required to sustain a nuclear chain reaction in light water reactor cores. Natural UF6 thus must be “enriched” in the fissionable isotope for it to be used as nuclear fuel. The different levels of enrichment required for a particular nuclear fuel application are specified by the customer: light-water reactor fuel normally is enriched up to about 4 percent 235U, but uranium enriched to lower concentrations also is required. Gaseous diffusion and gas centrifuge are the commonly used uranium enrichment technologies. The gaseous diffusion process consists of passing the natural UF6 gas feed under high pressure through a series of diffusion barriers (semiporous membranes) that permit passage of the lighter 235UF6 atoms at a faster rate than the heavier 238UF6 atoms. This differential treatment, applied across a large number of diffusion “stages,” progressively raises the product stream concentration of 235U relative to 238U. In the gaseous diffusion technology, the separation achieved per diffusion stage is relatively low, and a large number of stages is required to achieve the desired level of isotope enrichment. Because this technology requires a large capital outlay for facilities and it consumes large amounts of electrical energy, it is relatively cost intensive. In the gas centrifuge process, the natural UF6 gas is spun at high speed in a series of cylinders. This acts to separate the 235UF6 and 238UF6 atoms based on their slightly different atomic masses. Gas centrifuge technology involves relatively high capital costs for the specialized equipment required, but its power costs are below those for the gaseous diffusion technology. New enrichment technologies currently being developed are the atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) and the molecular laser isotope separation (MLIS). Each laser-based enrichment process can achieve higher initial enrichment (isotope separation) factors than the diffusion or centrifuge processes can achieve. Both AVLIS and MLIS will be capable of operating at high material throughput rates.
Fabrication. For use as nuclear fuel, enriched UF6 is converted into uranium dioxide (UO2) powder which is then processed into pellet form. The pellets are then fired in a high temperature sintering furnace to create hard, ceramic pellets of enriched uranium. The cylindrical pellets then undergo a grinding process to achieve a uniform pellet size. The pellets are stacked, according to each nuclear core’s design specifications, into tubes of corrosion-resistant metal alloy. The tubes are sealed to contain the fuel pellets: these tubes are called fuel rods. The finished fuel rods are grouped in special fuel assemblies that are then used to build up the nuclear fuel core of a power reactor.
The back end of the cycle is divided into the following steps:
Interim Storage. After its operating cycle, the reactor is shut down for refueling. The fuel discharged at that time (spent fuel) is stored either at the reactor site or, potentially, in a common facility away from reactor sites. If on-site pool storage capacity is exceeded, it may be desirable to store aged fuel in modular dry storage facilities known as Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSI) at the reactor site or at a facility away from the site. The spent fuel rods are usually stored in water, which provides both cooling (the spent fuel continues to generate heat as a result of residual radioactive decay) and shielding (to protect the environment from residual ionizing radiation).
Reprocessing. Spent fuel discharged from light-water reactors contains appreciable quantities of fissile (U-235, Pu-239), fertile (U-238), and other radioactive materials. These fissile and fertile materials can be chemically separated and recovered from the spent fuel. The recovered uranium and plutonium can, if economic and institutional conditions permit, be recycled for use as nuclear fuel. Currently, plants in Europe are reprocessing spent fuel from utilities in Europe and Japan.
Waste Disposal. A current concern in the nuclear power field is the safe disposal and isolation of either spent fuel from reactors or, if the reprocessing option is used, wastes from reprocessing plants. These materials must be isolated from the biosphere until the radioactivity contained in them has diminished to a safe level. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, the Department of Energy has responsibility for the development of the waste disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Current plans call for the ultimate disposal of the wastes in solid form in licensed deep, stable geologic structures.
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Nuclear Power Uses
Nuclear Power Uses
Is nuclear energy clean energy? Are its benefits greater than its risks? One of the basic characteristics of our “modern” societies is the usage of various products/goods/services that are involved to our lives.
We can think hundreds of such goods that were not used before and we are using them today in order to satisfy our wants and to meet our needs: from walkman to cars, from computers to bank machines. Of course, there are thousands of businesses and manufacturers that supply all these products/services and they all require energy to work.
Can we imagine our “modern” world without electricity? Can we imagine it, without the kind of energy that produces electricity? Purpose of this text is to examine one basic source of energy-nuclear energy. This text will discuss advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power.
We will examine the basic points about nuclear energy and we will compare them to the usage of other energy sources. But, what do we mean by nuclear energy?
Nuclear energy refers to the energy that we can obtain if we split atoms. Atoms have neutrons, protons (both in nucleus) and electrons (around nucleus). If nucleus breaks up, huge amount of energy is released. This procedure is called fission.
The energy is explained by the difference of mass between fission products and reactants. The energy and the heat that are produced can be used to produce electricity. The whole issue was under consideration from the beginning of the 20th century but the greatest physician; Albert Einstein explored the usage by giving enough details. Later on, the impact of nuclear energy was understandable in order to give a great energy source and —unfortunately- the absolute lethal weapon.
The World War 2 and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombs proved the consequences of nuclear power as a war “tool”. One important thing that we must mention is that the products of a nuclear explosion (as a bomb or as an accident) have the ability to “keep” their radioactivity for a period of time. That means that the consequences will not stop, but they will affect peoples and environment for a long time.
Most of the world’s electricity is generated by either thermal or hydroelectric power plants. Thermal power plants use fuel to boil water which makes steam. The steam turns turbines that generate electricity. Hydroelectric power plants use the great force of rushing water from a dam or a waterfall to turn the turbines.
The majority of thermal power plants burn fossil fuels because thermal power plants are cheaper to maintain and have to meet less of the governments requirements compared to nuclear power plants. Fossil fuels are coal and oil. The downfall of using fossil fuels is that they are limited. Fossil fuels are developed from the remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago. Burning fossil fuels has other downfalls, too. All the burning that is required to turn the turbines releases a lot of sulfur, nitrogen gases, and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
Nuclear power plants generate only about eleven percent of the world’s electricity. There are around 316 nuclear power plants in the world that creates 213,000 megawatts of electricity. (INFOPEDIA) Radioactive, or nuclear, waste is the by-product of nuclear fission. Fission occurs when atoms’ nucleus’ split and cause a nuclear reaction.
When a free neutron splits a nucleus, energy is released along with free neutrons, fission fragments that give off beta rays, and gamma rays. A free neutron from the nucleus that just split splits another nucleus. This process continues on and is called a chain reaction. (World Book vol. 14, 588)
Nowadays, we are using all the above ways to produce energy and scientists are trying to improve their applications in order to achieve the maximum benefits and to reduce the financial/environmental cost(s). The amount of energy differs from each method, as well, as the dangers for people and environment. Nuclear energy is a great source but it has many “traps” and dangers.
In a nuclear power plant, Uranium is used as fuel to boil the water for the steam that makes the turbines turn. So, uranium is, in a sense, the coal of a coal-fired power plant. When fueling nuclear power plants, the uranium arrives as uranium-enriched pellets. These pellets are an equivalent to one ton of coal. The pellets are sealed in tubes that are made of a strong heat-and corrosion-resistant metal alloy. This metal alloy will protect people and the environment from the high levels of radiation that the uranium is giving off.
The tubes are bundled together to make a fuel assembly. The assemblies are put inside the reactor to create heat that will boil the water. The fuel assemblies are used until they are depleted and sent to a repository.
A repository is a storage facility that stores high-level nuclear waste deep underground so the waste cannot harm or effect people or the environment. (DOE’s Yucca Mountain Studies) With the technology that we [humankind] have today, scientists believe it to be possible to make a repository somewhere. The guidelines of a repository are mainly if the geologic location will work out (i.e. will an earthquake be able to rupture it, will water be able to corrode the repositories outer wall.).
To make sure that the repository would be able to stay unharmed for thousands of years, scientists in all areas of science are making predictions of what could happen over the time period. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, a repository may pose no greater threat than un-mined uranium from which the high-level waste was produced.
The repository the EPA wants to make has to be proven that it will still be isolated underground in 10,000. After this extensive time, the high-level waste should no longer be radioactive enough to harm the public health.
Can we refer to nuclear energy as a clean source? To answer this we must examine both advantages and disadvantages of the usage and to refer to some events that indicated various outcomes.
THE “CLEAN” SIDE… By using nuclear power we can avoid some others source that can cause serious pollution. For example, we can produce electricity without any kind of burning fuel. Burning fuels would create serious damages to environment.
We all know the color of the sky in various places where factories burn such products for their manufacturing activities. Probably the two cleanest sources of electricity are hydropower and nuclear energy. Similar, we can talk about the effects and the pollution that caused by using various energy sources.
One of the most basic pollutants is Carbon Dioxide. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) causes serious damages to our environment. It has the ability to not let the heat (from sun) to escape from atmosphere. So, the heat is trapped into earth causing various effects to the physical balance (climate problems, green house phenomena).
Nuclear energy replaced other sources that produce Carbon Dioxide and prevent a higher CO2 level to our atmosphere. Another sources of pollution are Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). Both of these chemicals cause serious problems to our health. They are in part, produced by burning fossil fuels. It is logical to assume that if we use nuclear energy we will pollute our environment less.
In USA, nuclear plants have displaced about 82.000.000 SO2 tons between 1973-1997. Without the usage of nuclear energy, there is estimation that the level of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) would be fifty percent more. Nuclear energy could reduce Carbon Dioxide by 155.000.000 metric tons. In addition, the level of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)-again in USA- could be 37.500.000 tons less. In 1996, electricity sources were replaced (fossil fuels to nuclear energy) causing a decrease of 16.000.000 tons of Sulfur Dioxide. Generally, between 1973 and 1996 the amount of Sulfur Dioxide reduced was 219.000.000 tons —worldwide. From all the above, it is easily understandable that there are advantages by using nuclear energy, comparing to other sources. Of course, this does not-automatically- mean that nuclear energy is characterized as clean as others are not.
Unfortunately many people lost their lives from accidents and bombs that utilized nuclear power. In the Second World War nuclear power was harness into an atomic bomb. This was used as a weapon of mass destruction. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are towns that were all but wiped out due to technology dropped by our country.
On April 25th -26th, 1986 the World’s worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had 4 reactors. While testing reactor number 4 numerous safety procedures were disregarded. At 1:23am the chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and a fireball which blew off the reactor’s heavy steel and concrete lid.
The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius, 13,500 people had to be evacuated.
The consequences of such incidents/ accidents were (and many times, are) still faced from citizens and environment because of the abilities of radioactive elements through time. Thus, how can we describe this type of energy “clean”?
Nuclear energy was, is and will be a very powerful form of energy. Actually it is the most powerful- and has many dangers for our health, for the environment and for every type of life into the planet.
The effect of radiation can be fatal and can cause serious damages. First of all, an exposure to high level radiation will cause death, as many functions of our body will stop (molecules in our body will be ionized). In addition, higher percentages in the possibility of cancer and leukemia for people that are in contact with radiation (for example a worker in a nuclear station has more possibilities of exposure in radiation than others).
A rem is a unit scientist use to measure radiation exposure. Over a person’s lifetime, they usually receive 7-14 rems of natural sources of radiation, such as cosmic rays and ultraviolet rays from the sun. On a single exposure of 5-75 rems, there are few to no noticeable symptoms.
For someone to receive 75-200 rems of exposure, vomiting, fatigue, and loss of appetite would occur. Recovery would take a few weeks. If someone were to be exposed to more than 300 rems, severe changes in blood cells and hemorrhage takes place. If someone were to receive more than 600 rems, symptoms would be hair loss, loss in your body’s ability to fight infection and usually results in death. (World Book vol. 16, 79)
The effects of radiation sickness is not too pleasant. The main reason for building a repository is to keep people and the environment safe from deadly radiation.
The workers of our countries 104 nuclear plants are among at most risk for radiation exposure. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, a federally governed organization, regulates the allowed limit for occupational radiation workers. The average amount for workers is .65 Rem per year. The federal limit of radiation for plant workers is 5 rems per year. This is measured by total of external whole body dose and internal dose. Eye exposure to radiation is also closely monitored. The NRC limit for eye exposure is 15 rems per year.
Nuclear power is also used in our nation’s defense. Submarines and aircraft carriers use nuclear power to generate enough power to propel the enormous vessels.
Nuclear power has a lot of advantages over other forms of energy production. There are some negative effects such as health risks, environmental risks, misuses in weapons, and the threat of total destruction. If nuclear power is closely regulated and used properly, it can serve as a useful and “clean” source of energy that will send this country into a cleaner, safer future.
Bibliography:
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Energy
During the early stages of nuclear power there were many accidents that resulted in several people’s deaths and the destruction of millions of dollars of property. The accidents at Chernobyl which killed over 30 people and the incident at Three Mile Island are just a few of the catastrophes that occurred. How could something like energy be more important than the lives of innocent people? The race to perfect nuclear power continued and although many countries rely on nuclear power to operate effectively, it does not mean that nuclear power plants are without faults. They have numerous flaws in design and are not only producing power but harmful radiation as well.
Opponents of nuclear power argue that the waste that is produced is harmful and can persist for thousands of years. Today, thousands of tons of radioactive nuclear waste are constantly being moved through several states (Arnold). Robert K. Musil, PSR Executive Director, stated, ?Even one severe accident in this transporting of nuclear waste would cause up to 18,000 latent cancer deaths and cost over ten billion dollars to clean up?(Arnold). Not only is transportation of nuclear waste a problem but there are also decisions being made on where to store it. Currently, there are plans to dump waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Although the waste would be buried deep underground, the site is only ninety miles from Las Vegas (Arnold). Many people are afraid that if the waste is dumped at the site it may leak into underground water sources. If this were to occur, the results would be disastrous. Contact with nuclear waste can cause cancer and genetic mutations? (Clearfield). The harmful waste that is produced during nuclear fission is almost unmanageable and can be very dangerous if not contained.
Nevertheless, nuclear waste can become less harmful than the waste produced in other power production methods. Direct contact with nuclear waste can cause cancer, but so can breathing smoke from the burning of coal and oil. The waste can also be easily contained in many areas. Canada is looking into proposed plans to store nuclear waste in the Pre-Cambrian Canadian Shield? (McCarthy). There are also many other places that are uninhabitable to humans that are suitable for dumping the waste, such as Antarctica.
Over time the nuclear waste can lose its radioactivity which makes it less dangerous. After only ten years the waste becomes 1,000 times less radioactive, and after 500 years the fission products will be less radioactive than the uranium ore they were originally taken from (McCarthy). The waste is also not as abundant as would seem. Each year the UK produces 40 million cubic meters of industrial waste compared to 20 thousand cubic meters of nuclear waste? (Collum). The waste can also be reprocessed. During the reprocessing of nuclear waste, the plutonium created during nuclear fusion, which can also be used in nuclear reactors, is separated from the waste which leaves only three percent of the original waste left (Collum). Through these processes the containment and storage of nuclear waste can be done safely and efficiently.
Many critics say nuclear power plants are easy targets for terrorist attacks. If a nuclear power plant was bombed, the fallout from the explosion would contribute to the incidence of cancer all over the world (McCarthy). There is also the issue of waste being used to create weapons. The plutonium in nuclear waste could be extracted and used in nuclear weapons. The RBMK reactors built by the Russians were designed to operate as reactors and suppliers of plutonium for weapons (Keeny). This fault in design is the main reason that the plants failed to operate successfully. With so many countries on the brink of war, nuclear proliferation could become a real threat. If countries that support terrorist groups were able to build their own nuclear power plants, the terrorist would have access to a supply of plutonium, which would allow them to create deadly weapons. The dangers that nuclear power plants create may far outweigh any benefits that they might have.
However, nuclear plants are more than likely not viable targets for terrorist. The plants are built very securely and even if they were attacked most of the radiation would not be spread (McCarthy). Also, the waste that comes from the production of nuclear energy is not suitable for making weapons. Using the plutonium from nuclear waste in weapons would result in a bomb that not only would be unstable but also one that would be complex and difficult to maintain (Rossin). Nuclear plants are not needed to create nuclear weapons. Every country that has tried to make a bomb has succeeded, and none of them used nuclear waste (McCarthy). Nuclear power plants are not targets for terrorist, and in no way contribute to the threat of nuclear proliferation.
Critics argue that power plants are also costly. The plants are so expensive that most countries cannot afford to build them. The plants also take a long time to build and are require skilled technicians to operate them. Adding to the costs, the plants also require a high amount of security. If the plants are not constantly maintained the problem could cause an accident, or result in the shutting down of a plant. In order to open the storage facilities in Yucca Mountain on schedule, it will cost an additional 58 billion dollars (Arnold). The solid bars of waste that will be stored in this site are a few cubic meters in volume and will cost about one million dollars each (Hagen). With all plants in the U.S. being maintained by the government, the costs of the plants adds greatly to the taxes that the average citizen has to pay (Hagen).
However, the total cost of nuclear energy is actually less than other sources of power. The current price of uranium is 50 dollars per pound (McCarthy). Since the cost of uranium ore is only 0.04 cents per kilowatt-hour, even large increases in ore are affordable without increasing the cost of nuclear generated electricity significantly? (Cohen). The energy invested in building a plant is paid back in five months (McCarthy). The basic fact about nuclear energy is that the input energy is 4.8 percent of the output energy? (McCarthy). Although the facilities to store the waste are expensive, producing the waste in glass form is not. Even if the bars of waste do cost one million dollars each, an average household of four people only uses enough energy in a year to produce an amount of waste equal to ?the size of a cigarette lighter? (Cohen).
Some people believe that nuclear power plants are dangerous. The radiation that occurs during the process of nuclear fission can cause different types of cancer, and lead to death. In the Chernobyl accident, over 30 people were killed in the explosion caused by the overheating of the plant (McCarthy). The blast also made about 20 square miles of land uninhabitable for a long time. An accident like the one of Chernobyl might happen again today. When the reactor began to overheat at Chernobyl there was nothing that could have been done because the whole process lasted only a few seconds before exploding (Cohen). If a plant were to blow up it could cause thousands of deaths and spread deadly radioactive particles through the entire atmosphere.
Actually, nuclear power plants today are very safe. The amounts of radiation that are released are insignificant. The protective walls of concrete keep the workers in the plants safe. The amount of radiation that someone would receive at a nuclear power plant is less than the amount that he would get daily from the sun (McCarthy). With today’s technology a nuclear plant would not blow up. The reactors used today are opposite the ones used at Chernobyl in that the reactions slow down when water used to cool the rods begins to boil. The ones at Chernobyl sped up the reaction which is what caused the immense heat and quick buildup of pressure (McCarthy). Considering that cave-ins of coal mines have killed hundreds, the accident at Chernobyl was a rather small disaster.
One of the best reasons to use nuclear power is that there is an abundance of fuel. Compared to coal and oil powered plants, nuclear plants use significantly less amounts of fuel. The small bits of uranium found in coal would make more power in a nuclear plant than burning the coal itself (Cohen). Uranium is very abundant and serves no other purpose than to be used in nuclear power plants. If the Earth’s supply of Uranium is ever depleted, Thorium can be used in the plants. Although it is less effective than Uranium, Thorium is three times as abundant. Also, the spent fuel can be reprocessed into new fuel. Again, the plutonium produced is less effective than the Uranium, but it is a good way to recycle if there is a great need.
Not only is nuclear power easily fueled but it is also the most reliable of power sources. Unlike hydroelectric plants, which have to be built on a water source, nuclear power plants can be built anywhere. Other sources of power such as solar power and wind power are too expensive and unreliable. Solar panels will probably never be a major source of power because of the high cost it takes to produce them. There are only a few places in the world that wind could even be considered as a source of power, because of its unpredictability. Besides Uranium and Plutonium, another source of nuclear power is Hydrogen. This gas is one of the most abundant elements in the world and is the main element used in nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fusion could supply countries with almost endless amounts of energy. Fuels for nuclear fusion are very abundant. Fusion requires using isotopes of Hydrogen and Tritium. Tritium is rarely found in nature because it is radioactive and has a short half-life, but it can be produced from lithium, one of the most abundant metals in the earth’s crust (Murari). There is no waste produced in nuclear fusion. When the two atoms are combined in nuclear fusion the only product created is helium (Murari). After the fusion occurs the radiation that affects the surrounding area declines rapidly because of the less radioactive sources that are used (Murari). Although nuclear fusion is only in the early stages of development it could one day become the only source of power needed to supply the entire world with energy.
In conclusion, nuclear energy is a valuable source that should be used in today’s society. Not only is it safe and reliable, but the benefits far outweigh the few drawbacks. What little waste that is produced can easily be contained, the plants are under no threats, and the energy that the plants produce is needed for many large countries in the world to function. Without nuclear energy there would be more pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, more blackouts like the one in North Eastern United States recently, and also a greater economic struggle to obtain fuels for power. The production of nuclear power through nuclear fission and fusion should be continued because of the benefits that it offers to society.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
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Murari, Andrea. Fusion Energy. 8 April 2003. Jet. 29 Sept. 2003 http://www.jet.efda.org/
Rossin, David. Spent Fuel Reprocessing. 31 March 1998. Frontline. 29 Sept. 2003 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/rossin.html