Is It Time To Revive Nuclear Power?
Yes. Nuclear energy is a cheap and extremely reliable alternative energy source that, unfortunately, is not being utilized as commonly as it should. Currently, twenty percent of the United State’s power is supplied by nuclear power plants and generates approximately seventy-five percent of America’s clean-air energy.
The United States is the world’s biggest contributor of greenhouse gases due to our high dependency on fossil fuels. Using more nuclear power plants to generate energy will cut down on America’s greenhouse gas emissions because they give off little to no greenhouse gases. Because of this, nuclear power plants do not contribute to “global warming”.
Nuclear energy is produced by a powerful process called nuclear fission where Uranium atoms are split, creating steam that flows through turbines, producing the energy. The energy released by this process is ten million times greater than energy released by fossil fuels. Producing energy this way is also quite inexpensive (1.68 cents per Kilowatt-Hours), about as much as the cost of coal. This outweighs a little more pricy (but beneficial) expense of running a nuclear power plant which is the cost of safety and security precautions, a huge deal involved with nuclear energy. Although nuclear waste that is produced in the whole process is radioactive, it is very compact making it easy and safe to transport. The waste can also be used in creating nuclear weapons for the intent of defending our nation. Scientists, however, are planning on cutting down on nuclear waste. In fact, technology in the near future will include new nuclear reactors that will be able to recycle spent fuel rods at a 99% efficiency rate. Hopefully soon, another advance in dealing with nuclear waste will be the utilization of the Yucca Mountain facility, a safe and secure storage location isolated in the middle-of-nowhere Nevada desert. ~Devin S. | No. Nuclear power should not be revived, because we need to first solve the safety, security, and environmental problems that come with the 104 power plants operating today in the United States. Nuclear power plants are very tricky to operate because they could lead to catastrophic accidents caused by nuclear radiation leaks which would ultimately bring great damage and harm to the environment and human health. Accidents can lead to cancer and death and a large-scale accident would contaminate our air, water, and food, harming the nation’s population. The United States has faced nuclear accidents before and the most damaging nuclear power plant accident of the United States was at Three Mile Island in 1979 when a nuclear meltdown occurred. As well as creating damaging events if an accident would occur, nuclear power plants are also difficult to manage because waste cannot be re-used and there is great controversy as to where to store the hazardous material. Finding safe storage for nuclear waste is deemed impossible in the United States, which would create conflict if we implement more nuclear power plants because then we would have to deal with more waste to store. Lastly, there should not be any new nuclear power plants built in the United States because the costs involved in building the plants are incredibly high. Today, the government is already paying high subsidies for the 104 operating plants. Instead of nuclear power, the United States should invest its money in more reasonable and safer alternatives such as solar energy, wind power, and hydroelectric power. These alternatives are free of harmful emissions and do not come with the risk of catastrophic accidents. Nuclear power should not be revived in the United States because the costs to operate are too high and too risky.
~Amy B. |