Nuclear Power Debate Essay Research Paper The

Nuclear Power Debate Essay, Research Paper

The world’s natural resources are being consumed at an alarming rate. As these resources diminish , people will be seeking alternative sources by which to generate electricity for heat and light . The only practical short term solution for the energy-crisis is nuclear power.Nuclear power, however is not as safe as burning coal, gas or oil in a factory it is in fact , much more dangerous, There are dangers associated with a nuclear power plant which far out weigh the benefits to society as a whole and in part to the community living and working around the power plant . About 20 percent of our nation’s total electrical consumption per year is supplied by nuclear power from the 100 or so nuclear power plants throughout the country . Even though atomic power has been in use for over 50 years it was primarily a tool of war and destruction when the war ended need for atomic bombs diminished . The scientists who created the weapons were out of jobs . They then turned this destructive power into huge plants generating “clean and cheap ” electricity for the country . It was called progress. Progress also brought with it sickness , mutations , cancer and eventually death to those exposed to high levels of radiation . Government declared that nuclear power is safe and efficient . Also have big Oil corporations who have a lot of money invested in nuclear power and want to see as many plants as possible put into and kept in operation . The truth is that accidents do happen at nuclear power plants and at other facilities all the time . An accident at a nuclear power plant has the potential to be much more devastating than an accident at a coal or gas plant because of the radiation that could be released . An example of this is Three Mile Island inPennsylvania where there was a partial core meltdown in march of 1979 and an “acceptable” amount of radiation escaped into the atmosphere . However no amount of radiation is acceptable if released as a result of an accident at a nuclear power plant .

Is Nuclear Power necessary .

Today many Americans adopt lifestyles that are based on energy in-efficient devices . These include large automobiles and electric appliances that require electricity from energy-intense industrial processes . The public is doing all it can to force nuclear power plants into production by wasting electricity and the resources which are used to produce it ( coal , oil , gas) and by failing to recycle . Nuclear power has been promoted world-wide as economically advantageous and necessary to replace fossil fuels as the means of energy production in the 21st century . However this is untrue . There are many other economically viable and environmentally safe methods of producing energy .These include solar power hydroelectric power and wind power . Today one fifth of the world’s total energy production either comes from either wind ,water or solar power . It is estimated that by the year 2000 forty percent of the world’s energy production will be from sources other than fossil fuels or nuclear power .It is estimated that to meet , via nuclear power a quarter of the projected U.S. primary power demand in the year 2000 that the US would have to order a new nuclear power plant to be built every five days to compensate for the irradication of the coal , oil and gas powered plants . On the other hand if all U. S. nuclear power plants were shut down now , it would not make any difference at all . The existing electrical backup systems have reserves of power that can more than make up for the loss of the nuclear power plants . The nuclear power plants that are in use today are no more than large plants serving no purpose at all and endangering many peoples lives .

Is Nuclear Power worth the risks .

With any large energy producing facility there are

risks . The risks posed by a nuclear power plant however , are far greater than those posed by any other . Meltdowns, cancer , radiation , mutations and eventually death are all possible end results of the building of a nuclear power plant . Meltdown or the explosion of the main reactor itself can release tons of radioactive particles into the atmosphere . The meltdown of a nuclear power plant would release a thousand times more radioactivity into the atmosphere than the bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Another possibility is “China Syndrome ” , wherethe core of the reactor melts into the earth and reaches the water table of the area and contaminates it . Although Nuclear power plants do not give off any form of combustion , they do release minute traces of radioactive particles which contaminate the soil , water and air . They also release super heated water into lakes and rivers from the cooling of the reactor . This heats the water , killing fish and other types of marine life . The average or annual release of radioactive particles into the atmosphere shorten our life span by 37 minutes . This also raises the

background level of radiation by 3% thus adding an extra 7000 cancer deaths per year . The cases of cancer deaths go up in areas around nuclear power plants . Children with asthma living in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant are 50 times more likely to die of cancer than a healthy child living in the same area . Studies done by the EPA and NRC reveal that workers at nuclear power plants are more likely to die from cancer d