Monday, April 18, 2011

Does nuclear energy still have a part to play in the world?

In my opinion, due to the devastating worsening of the global warming reaching a critical level, the use of nuclear power seems to be a good solution and alternative solution to the harmful energy sources like fuel etc. however like all things, the use of nuclear energy has its pros and cons
I feel that the advantages of nuclear power generation are that nuclear power generation emits low amounts of carbon dioxide which is harmful to the ozone layer. The emissions of green house gases and therefore the contribution of nuclear power plants to global warming is therefore relatively little. Furthermore, this technology is readily available, it does not have to be developed first and it is very easy to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant.

However, the use of this energy has a few problems. For example, the problem of radioactive waste is still an unsolved one as the waste from nuclear energy is extremely dangerous and it has to be carefully looked after for several thousand years. Furthermore it has high risks as despite a generally high security standard, accidents can still happen. It is technically impossible to build a plant with 100% security. A small probability of failure will always last. The consequences of an accident would be absolutely devastating both for human being as for the nature. for example the recent Fukushima nuclear crisis has affected many people there as many workers had died, the food the farmers planted there are ruined by the radiation and the radiation leaks are channeled to the sea killing quite a number of fishes already and making the seafood there inconsumable. This clearly shows how devastating the outcome of a ruin nuclear plant. The more nuclear power plants are built, the higher is the probability of a disastrous failure somewhere in the world.
Furthermore, during the operation of nuclear power plants, radioactive waste is produced, which in turn can be used for the production of nuclear weapons. In addition, the same know-how used to design nuclear power plants can to a certain extent be used to build nuclear weapons just like in North Korea. The energy source for nuclear energy is Uranium. Uranium is a scarce resource, its supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand.

In my opinion, nuclear power is neither good nor bad given the pros and cons, unfortunately, this is one of the only few options left for mankind to keep us going and to preserve the world for the next generation. Hence in conclusion, nuclear energy is very important despite its cons and we should use it given our situation now and it is clear that it plays a big part in the world.

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