Friday, March 9, 2012

A More Efficient Way

(Nuclear Energy Institute)

In light of the recent trends toward environmental awareness, alternative energy has been at the forefront of political discussions. The depleting sources of fossil fuels, paired with our economic dependence on the Middle East, have led to the American government searching for other sources of energy. One of these sources is nuclear energy, the most polarizing and controversial type of energy being considered to be able to replace fossil fuels as our main source of energy.

One of the biggest concerns regarding nuclear energy is the volatile nature of uranium, the material converted into energy in nuclear power plants. While there have been incidents in the past such as the explosion at Chernobyl, the changes in protocol have greatly decreased potential dangers. In fact, “it’s [been] proven safer to work at a nuclear power plant than in the finance or real-estate sectors (Moore)”. The waste created by nuclear energy, claimed to be dangerous and difficult to store, is anything but so. A year’s supply of waste can be reshaped into a block about three cubic meters in size and stored away from civilization (Wood).

While technology has come a long way in making nuclear energy much less dangerous, it has made its largest strides in making it more efficient. Resources such as wind and solar energy “require vast amounts of land…and land, after all, is also a limited resource (Tucker)”. Nuclear energy, on the other hand, requires a fraction of the land and a fraction of the cost, as seen in the graph. It also creates energy much more efficiently. With 200 tons of material, it makes the same amount of energy that fossil fuels create with 3 million tons of coal (Wood). Because of its efficiency and recent safety improvements, nuclear energy is one of the better alternative energy sources to replace our dependency on fossil fuels.


Works Cited
Moore, Patrick. "Nuclear Power Is a Clean Energy Source." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 11-16. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Nuclear Energy Institute. “Monthly Fuel Costs to U.S. Utilities.” Power Point Presentation. May 2011.  Accessed 11 March 2012. http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/documentlibrary/reliableandaffordableenergy/graphicsandcharts
 /monthlyfuelcosttouselectricutilities/
Wood, Graeme. "Nuclear Waste Can Be Safely Contained." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 65-68. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Tucker, William. "Nuclear Energy Is Better than Renewable Energy." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 37-43. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Posted by Garret Cragun

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6 comments:

  1. Logan BirdMarch 17, 2012 at 1:16 PM

    Your argument is fundamental and essential for our national progression forward. I think Nuclear energy is a key and viable resource to invest more of the resources we have. I was worried about the safety of nuclear energy, but I can see that it has improved over the years. In the same way of fossil fuels, how renewable is nuclear energy?

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    1. craguncitoMarch 18, 2012 at 9:47 PM

      Nuclear energy is actually a very renewable form of energy. In fact, the waste that it produces still contains about 97% of its energy and can be re-used several times over.

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  2. Tommy DudleyMarch 17, 2012 at 4:38 PM

    Growing up in Nevada, the topic of nuclear waste was always at the forefront of discussion. As a child I was all for Yucca Mountain happening because of the money from the government that would be flowing into my pocket. I do feel that nuclear power is a valid resource but i do feel that this article does seem to downplay the concerns that go along with it. The example I am thinking of is the problems that Japan is still facing from their nuclear reactor problems during the Tsunami. Even now, a large area surrounding the nuclear plant in Japan is still affected by radiation. Scientists have also found radiation in many of Japans natural resources including precious water. I am not opposed to nuclear energy as a whole, I just feel that we are a long way from being completely safe and some of the resources in the article are trying to downplay that fact.

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    1. craguncitoMarch 18, 2012 at 10:14 PM

      While I agree with you that radiation is still not safe enough for widespread use, I feel that it has come a long way in terms of safety protocol. In the case of the Japanese incident, the explosion was a result of an earthquake knocking out the power source of the plant. The reactors were incredibly old and written off by the plant operators. It is also important to note that this accident was only the third in over 14,500 cumulative reactor-years of commercial nuclear power operation in 32 countries.

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  3. gnautuMarch 18, 2012 at 9:40 PM

    Before I read your blog, I really didn't know what was an alternative energy source. When you started talking of Nuclear energy I felt that it was something dangerous. Now after reading you blog I realized that it is not as dangerous as I thought it was. I feel that many people fear the option of using nuclear energy as an alternative fuel source because they really don't know what it is. I didn't know so i naturally feared it because of the word "nuclear. I feel if that there were more people educating others about nuclear energy like what your blog is doing, more people will not fear it and support it.

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    Replies
    1. craguncitoMarch 18, 2012 at 10:18 PM

      I agree that the public as a whole seems to have a skewed view of nuclear energy, basing their opinions on incidents that are rare and far between. If we can educate people on nuclear energy with true facts we will get much farther in finding alternative sources of energy.

      Delete

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