Nuclear Energy Essay Research Paper History Of

Nuclear Energy Essay, Research Paper

History Of Power

Modern civilisation depends largely on energy. Without it our lives would be reduced to the level of a caveman?s. We would have nothing to power the equipment we rely on to get on with our daily lives. Life would in a way come to a standstill without energy. Without wood, we would not even be able to light fires for warmth or fire for cooking food. Our days would be spent huddling together in caves for warmth with only raw meat and vegetables to eat. This is a stark picture but it shows how vital energy is for human beings.

Human progress has been closely linked to the discovering of new means of producing power. At first, man could only burn wood for heat. Later mankind learned how to use coal. By the 1700?s, we discovered steam and which has brought to the industrial revolution that launched mankind towards our modern technological society. Since then many ways of producing power have been developed ? including oil, gas, nuclear and solar energy.

From the time mankind discovered energy till today, energy consumption has increased more than a hundredfold. The illustration below shows clearly the increasing energy consumption since the stone ages.

Why Nuclear Energy?

Before we look into why nuclear energy is the best resource, we should look into the problems faced by current techniques of producing power.

Problems With Current Energy Resources

Depletion of Fossil Fuels

Till today, 78% of the world?s energy is derived from the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include petroleum, natural gas, and coal. As a result, fossil fuels are being depleted at rates 100,000 times faster than they are being formed. The remaining recoverable fossil fuel in the world is thought to be about 10 trillion barrels of oil, enough to last mankind another 170 years at present consumption rates. This is likely to become less as the consumption rate will certainly increase. However this supply will eventually run out one day.

Air Pollution

With the heavy use of fossil fuels in today?s energy strategy, air pollution has become an increasing problem. A 1,000 MWe coal-fired power station produces about 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, plus perhaps 200,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide which in many cases remains a major source of atmospheric pollution. Other waste products from the burning fossil fuels include large quantities of fly ash (typically 200,000 tonnes per year), containing toxic metals (substances that can cause cancer and genetic changes) as well as naturally-occurring radioactive substances. These pollutants have many effects on the respiratory system both long-term and short-term and can sometimes be fatal. Examples of diseases caused by air pollution are aggravated asthma, severe chest pain, gasping, aggravated coughing and chronic bronchitis. But children are the main concern of this problem. Because their respiratory system are still developing. They are more prone to these diseases than adults.

Acid Rain

What is acid rain? Acid rain as the name suggests is acidic. Water in the atmosphere combines with the gas Sulphur dioxide that is released together with carbon dioxide during the combustion of fossil fuels. The combinations of water and sulphur dioxide gas forms sulphuric acid and this is dangerous to both human beings and the environment.

Greenhouse Effect

Another problem raised is the greenhouse effect. Because of the excess carbon dioxide gases released day-by-day, a ?layer? of the gas forms in the atmosphere. As a result, the heat form the sun is kept in by that ?layer? of gas instead of being radiated out into space like it should be. This is the same principle as how a greenhouse keeps plants warm. The world temperature will be likely to increase due to the extra heat in the atmosphere and this will cause great devastation to the earth. Glaciers and ice fields would melt, causing low-lying countries to be flooded and the world?s climate would utterly change.

Renewable Energy

Alternative sources of producing have been found such as wind power, hydroelectric power (derived from running water through turbines as a fast rate), geothermal power and so on. These resources are categorised as renewable energy. But the problem with these sources of energy is that they do not produce enough energy to sustain the increasing need for energy in today?s times. Energy from renewable resources has to be produced in a very large scale in order to supply the world with enough energy. Although renewable energy sources is said to be environmentally friendly, at a large scale it is not. For example, for a hydroelectric dam to be big enough to supply energy for a country as big as Australia, the dam would have to be the size of Singapore times four. A vast area of land has to be cleared in order to build the dam and this might cause the extinction of rare plants and animals.

Why Nuclear Energy?

There are many reasons why nuclear energy is the best alternative source of energy. Nuclear energy will solve all of the problems faced by current sources of energy especially from the burning of fossil fuels.

To find the advantages of nuclear energy, we have to compare it with another resource. For instance, let us compare a nuclear power plant and a power plant th

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