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.
There are 6 operating power plants in Illinois and 11 reactors. The power plants are Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, Lasalle, and Quad Cities. Dresden was the first power plant to open. Its first reactor was opened in 1960 and retired in 1978, being open for 18 years. It’s second reactor was then opened on April 24, 1987. It didn’t fully operate, however, until September 15, 1987, located 9 Miles East of Morris, IL (Nuclear Illinois, 2017). Clinton was first opened on April 24, 1987, 6 miles East of Clinton, Illinois (Nuclear Illinois, 2017). It only has one reactor. Byron is located 17 miles southwest of Rockford, Illinois. Its first reactor was opened in September of 1985 and its second reactor was opened in August of 1987. Braidwood’s first reactor was opened on July 29, 1988 and its second reactor opened on October 17, 1988. It is located 60 miles south of Chicago. Quad Cities Is located 20 miles Northeast of Moline and it’s first reactor opened on February 18, 1973. It’s second reactor then opened on March 10, 1973, a few
From Batavia to Durand – The Fire Barn Story! The inspiration for The Fire Barn comes from the owner’s mother, Mrs. (Name). In 1982, she started a restaurant called the Fire Barn Pizza in Batavia, IL. True to its name, the restaurant comprised a fire department theme. The building was a family-friendly destination, consisting of a real fire truck, and a complete arcade.
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.
In “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer,” Helen Caldicott argues that pursuing nuclear energy would be a detriment to the United States. According to Caldicott, nuclear power, contrary to what the industry claims, is not clean and green, but rather a pollutant and a strong contributor to the destruction of the ozone layer. Because of the availability of uranium ore steadily decreasing, the process is requiring more and more fossil fuels to extract the ore. Caldicott projects that within ten to twenty years, nuclear reactors will be counterproductive because of the amount of fossil fuel it will take to mine the remaining uranium. In addition to air pollution, nuclear power plants also emit radioactive gases and materials that have the potential
Facts, data, expert opinion: a) Low Pollution such as air pollution, water pollution - Nuclear power also has a lot fewer greenhouse emissions. It has been determined that the amount of greenhouse gases have decreased by almost half because of the prevalence in the utilization of nuclear power. Nuclear energy has the least effect on nature since it doesn’t discharge any gasses like methane and carbon dioxide b) Low Operating Costs - The cost of the uranium, which is utilized as a fuel in this process, is low. Also, even though the expense of setting up nuclear power plants is moderately high, the expense of running them is quite low. The normal life of nuclear reactor is anywhere from 40-60 years, depending on how often it is used and how it is being
The Atomic Bomb We all know that the droppings of the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended World War 2, but was it really the right thing to do? World war 2 was one of the most devastating wars fought in the history of mankind, resulting in the death of millions on both sides of the war. The dropping of the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the best strategic and political thing to do, but it might not have been the most moral thing to do. In the month of April of 1945, the war in Europe was coming to an end with both America, and Russia conducting attacks against Germany on two fronts, but the war going on in the Pacific was still raging on.
On the morning of April 6th, 1945, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America dropped a bomb developed to destroy homes on Hiroshima, Japan. Instantly, 18,000 people were killed, and around 400,000 more died from radiation effects afterward. Nine days later, on April 15th, Japan surrendered and the war between Japan and America ended. With many American people questioning if the bomb was needed to end the war, America released an article stating that the bomb was a necessary evil. But, many still wonder whether or not America should have dropped the atomic bomb.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “I believe the more you know about our past, the better you are prepared for the future.” Never has this quote been more relevant than in the debate of the questionable decision made by President Truman to drop the Atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For years this decision has been debated, backed by insurmountable amounts of evidence on both sides of the argument. Was there another way to break the will of the Japanese? Was there any way to avoid death and destruction?
In the beginning the research was based at a few colleges. A breakthrough happened in December of 1942 when Dr. Fermi led physicists to develop the first controlled nuclear chain reaction under the grandstands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. After that one milestone, all the money that was going to the research were used more freely, while the project was moved up to maximum speed. The two major nuclear factories were built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. The main assembly plant was in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Nuclear Energy IS Australia’s Future Introduction: I wholeheartedly believe that Nuclear Energy will play an inevitably central role as a reliable energy source in Australia’s future. Australia must invest in Nuclear energy because coal and oil are becoming scarce, requires less fuel and is eco-friendly. Australia is blessed with the world’s largest known uranium resources (a bountiful 38% according to Professor Mary O’Kane NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer). ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) reports: ‘No country of Australia’s economic size or larger is without nuclear power’.
Nuclear power plants can also be easily controlled and regulated with the right tools, and many safety precautions are taken to prevent
This phase is to wait for the radioactive decay. In this phase, the first contamination barrier remains stable, but the mechanical opening system will be permanently sealed, and the containment vessel buildings should keep closed. Therefore, nuclear power plant keeps in good conditions in this phase, and the contaminated buildings maintain a proper state as residual hazardous substances, will not have a significant impact on the environment. However, workers still need to check if there are leaks in the first contamination barrier and the contaminated plant on time. The second stage is for partial demolition and site use restriction.
Nuclear energy is one of the several alternative energy sources that have been introduced ever since. Nuclear energy’s various advantages entice many countries to start practicing it. One must consider the amount of energy generated by nuclear fuels, as they are highly-concentrated energy sources. Small uranium pellets, which are the most common form of fuel in generating nuclear energy, can generate as much electricity as a trainload full of coal does. In addition, nuclear power plants do not produce green house gases as byproducts.
Probably words like radiation, mutations and Homer Simpson pop into your head. However, that is not the case. According to Mark A. Jones, Director of Nuclear Operations and Engineering at Hutchinson Island Nuclear Power Plant, during our interview stated: “Nuclear energy compared to solar energy brings less of an impact because nuclear energy doesn 't emit air pollution unlike other forms of energy. It also only needs the fraction of land the salon energy needs and self-contain its own waste from polluting the environment.”
It is true that there have been major accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. However those are the only accidents that have occurred in a total of 16,000 cumulative reactor years (“Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors”). The actual amount of accidents that happens are quite low. Moreover, even when those accidents happen, the radiation that you would receive would (normally) be the same or less than what you would receive from natural sources (Lynas). Thus, if those accidents happen, and it is very unlikely that they will, they will not give you any adverse effects when handled
Although Nuclear Power plants look like they are polluting, their not. Nuclear Power Plants do not emit air pollutants. In fact, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) states that Nuclear Energy is America’s largest emission-free source of energy, producing