In this day and age where energy is one of the greatest factors in world events, it is unsurprising to see nuclear energy, the bridge between fossil fuels and renewable resources, argued for and against so fiercely. Yet under this umbrella term of “nuclear energy” that people enjoy throwing around, there are two wildly different forms of energy. Things that perhaps shouldn’t be lumped together so haphazardly. Those are Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion.
The general attitude by the public towards nuclear reactors is that of fear or disapproval simply due to its name or the rumors. Nuclear reactors are merely devices that sustain chain reactions, in which only one of the emitted neutrons hits another nucleus to create fission. Though nuclear reactors cannot become a weapon or a bomb, some of the dangers relate to our lives to the extent that we may need to seek alternatives, as demonstrated by the reactors in Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
The global energy demand is increasing as years go by as there is a rapid growth of population in deed of power. Due to the high demand for energy, many people are opting to replace other forms of energy with nuclear power because of its safety, reliability, and sustainability. In addition, it is one of the cleanest carbon free sources of energy available in the world today. Nuclear power is the use of continuous nuclear fission to produce electricity and heat. However, there are a number of controversies over the use of nuclear energy with some supporting its use while others opposing the use of nuclear energy. Despite the controversy on whether to use nuclear energy as an alternative, nuclear power has proved to be safe, reliable, clean, and inexpensive. Therefore, Nuclear energy should replace other forms of power around the globe because it is more environmentally friendly, cost effective, and safe for use and to exist with human beings compared to other forms of energy being used today.
Although nuclear power can be dangerous, it is a strong source for energy that could run nations for years.
Now, it’s obvious that I’m no nuclear engineer, but it has always fascinated me. Growing up very close to Turkey Point nuclear plant in Miami and having a father that worked there, I was able to see things normal people wouldn 't have seen. I got to go into the training room where they train the new reactor operators. And this interest lead me to do more research on the other sources of energy and what I found lead me to this conclusion.
Over 20 percent of the energy in the United States comes from nuclear energy power plants. (Rinkesh, 2018) They so their best to get as much energy to the country as possible, but there are those out there who don’t agree with them. While there are downsides to nuclear energy, the pros vastly outweigh the cons. Nuclear power plants are a great way to get energy because they don’t let out much pollution, are very efficient, and are very safe.
Nuclear energy may be the solution that eliminates our concern for energy production in the future, but it still remains a huge issue for the environment. Despite its wide use in many developed countries, nuclear energy poses many threats to both the
Nuclear energy has numerous world benefits that other forms of energy creation just don’t, and its pros are truly unprecedented by any other source of energy. Nuclear power plants are inexpensive to run, which means they can easily be maintained and sustained at a low cost. And while the reactors themselves may be expensive, with government grants the materials can be much more easily purchased and built. The most expensive part of the nuclear reactor process is the uranium, which again, isn’t hard to get as it’s used in few other applications and can be acquired through government programs. Additionally, the energy emitted from these power plants compared to their cost is immense and an extremely worthwhile investment for governments and private businesses.
Power plants burn fuel to produce heat to generate energy; however, nuclear power plants use the heat given off fission to turn water into steam. Nuclear energy is without a doubt a great way to power our homes because, Nuclear power plants are safer than other energy alternatives. Nuclear plants are safer than other energy alternatives. Coal is responsible for five times more deaths than nuclear power plants, coal also causes over one thousands more serious causes of illness than nuclear. Nuclear plants produce steam while coal plants, heat water by burning coal that produces greenhouse emissions. Contrary to popular belief, nuclear power plants are unable to explode. Power plants use fuel that is thirty to ninety times too diluted to explode.
Many countries independently have a sufficient amount of nuclear bombs and missiles to end the entire human race on planet earth. The cold war began the race for countries to have large nuclear arsenals that has been going non stop. Nuclear weapons are largely for show, the only nuclear weapons ever used in combat were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki, which was 71 years ago (Mian). Countries should not have nuclear weapons
Nuclear power produces fewer carbon emissions than traditional energy sources because energy is not produced by burning molecules but splitting atoms. ‘An energy mix including nuclear power has the lowest impact on wildlife and Ecosystems’ as shown by a Conservation Biology paper. Consequently, greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by nearly half which shows the benefits and popularity of nuclear power use. Nuclear power has many environmental benefits such as small waste production, leaves no adverse effect on water, land or any habitats. By reducing fossil fuel consumption and switching to Nuclear Energy, we will sustain the environment, quality of air, improving the overall quality of
is battling a major food waste crisis and between the holidays Thanksgiving and New Years, approximately 40 days, Americans creates 5 million tons of household waste. With wasting food, turkey especially, it's not just the nutrients that are thrown out; time, money, labor and a whole lot of gallons of water go into raising turkeys and to get them ready to be eaten. America is the leading contributor to the global food waste crisis due to the fact that most of America is lucky enough to have access to regular trash collection. Our country's oblivion to the waste problem impacts our society because wasting food is damaging to the environment. The amount of waste we produce is slowly killing our world due to the natural resources it
In our society, the need for a clean and reliable source of power is in high demand. Nuclear power may be a source of this energy. This energy comes from nuclear fission. Uranium-235 is hit with neutrons and this starts a chain reaction that generates a lot of heat. Water is then converted into steam that is used to spin turbines to generate power. Deadly radiation is produced in this reaction, but it is contained within the plant.
Nuclear weapons have only been used practically twice in history, which occurred in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the nuclear weapons being executed on the two Japanese cities, over 210,000 casualties were reported. If nuclear weapons were ever used in modern day, the result would be globally catastrophic. As contemporary nukes are more powerful and have bigger abilities, their effects could put billions at risk of famine and death. Nuclear energy can completely disrupt agricultures and environments. If the environment was exposed to even a relatively small nuclear weapon, studies show that devastating effects would take place against the world’s climate and decade long lasting effects on the ecosystems of the Earth. A small perception that can be used to see the effects of nuclear energy being exposed to the environment is the Chernobyl Disaster of 1986. To this day, there are still no inhabitants of the exposed areas inside Chernobyl, Ukraine, as those exposed can experience heavy vulnerabilities to cancer, diseases, and death. Just from the small accident in Chernobyl, there are still modern effects of the disaster. Things like birth defects, sights of mutated organisms, and sicknesses are still reported as a result from the mass leak of radiation. Having these effects on a regional, national, or
Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion are reactions that release energy because of the high-powered atomic bonds between the particles in the nucleus. To understand fission and fusion reactions, we must first understand the difference between them. In a fission reaction, a massive nucleus is split in the form of gamma rays, free neutrons and other subatomic particles. In a fusion reaction, two nuclei combine to form a new element that contains more protons in the nucleus (higher atomic number). Those are the basic definitions of the fusion and fission reactions. There are still many more important differences between the two that we need to discuss.