How Nuclear Power is Safe, Profitable, and Non-Proliferate
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl 4 reactor exploded, releasing a huge amount of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. As a result of operator incompetence and a faulty design, 47 people died from thermal burns and radiation (making this the first and only nuclear-reactor disaster to cause human deaths) and around 4000 people contracted thyroid cancer from the incident. As bad as this sounds, findings show that the truth is much less sad. For example, out of those 4000 people, only 9 died; therefore, the survival rate is almost 99%, according to a groundbreaking United Nations’ study from 2005. In addition, increases in radiation-caused decreased fertility, congenital malformations, …show more content…
As for some hard evidence, here is a great quote from a Scientific American article: “The number of so-called safety-significant events reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, for example, averaged about two per plant per year in 1990 but had dropped to less than one tenth of that by 2000” (Lake, Bennett, and Kotek, 2009). To explain this quote more clearly, there are four main levels of nuclear reactors, based on their date and type and going from oldest to youngest left to right: Generation I (the early prototypes), II (our large, contemporary reactors), III (reactors that have inherent safety systems and have been designed recently), and IV (future concept or prototype reactors that are scheduled to be built in twenty years). Though there are many very safe Generation III and IV reactors, there is one that perhaps deserve more attention than many of the others: Pebble bed reactors and fast breeder reactors. In pebble-bed reactors, the nuclear fuel (the most important part of the reactor) is encased in extremely-tough little balls called “pebbles” that virtually prevent fuel meltdowns, fires, and explosions from occurring (since the fuel cannot escape or explode the pebbles at almost any temperature that the fuel might reach). However, the pebbles do need replacing (since the fuel is not taken out of the pebbles), and that brings …show more content…
In addition, though nuclear fission power is great, the wisest use of it, in my opinion, would be to continue using it and developing better designs until solar, wind, and perhaps even nuclear fusion or clean coal become practical options since the fuel for nuclear fission is dangerous. However, we should not give up nuclear fission power now since, as of recent years, nuclear power is more feasible and cost-effective than all those
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl 4 reactor exploded, releasing a huge amount of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. As a result of operator incompetence and a faulty design, 47 people died from thermal burns and radiation (making this the first and only nuclear-reactor disaster to cause human deaths) and around 4000 people contracted thyroid cancer from the incident. As bad as this sounds, findings show that the truth is much less sad. For example, out of those 4000 people, only 9 died; therefore, the survival rate is almost 99%, according to a groundbreaking United Nations’ study from 2005. In addition, increases in radiation-caused decreased fertility, congenital malformations, …show more content…
As for some hard evidence, here is a great quote from a Scientific American article: “The number of so-called safety-significant events reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, for example, averaged about two per plant per year in 1990 but had dropped to less than one tenth of that by 2000” (Lake, Bennett, and Kotek, 2009). To explain this quote more clearly, there are four main levels of nuclear reactors, based on their date and type and going from oldest to youngest left to right: Generation I (the early prototypes), II (our large, contemporary reactors), III (reactors that have inherent safety systems and have been designed recently), and IV (future concept or prototype reactors that are scheduled to be built in twenty years). Though there are many very safe Generation III and IV reactors, there is one that perhaps deserve more attention than many of the others: Pebble bed reactors and fast breeder reactors. In pebble-bed reactors, the nuclear fuel (the most important part of the reactor) is encased in extremely-tough little balls called “pebbles” that virtually prevent fuel meltdowns, fires, and explosions from occurring (since the fuel cannot escape or explode the pebbles at almost any temperature that the fuel might reach). However, the pebbles do need replacing (since the fuel is not taken out of the pebbles), and that brings …show more content…
In addition, though nuclear fission power is great, the wisest use of it, in my opinion, would be to continue using it and developing better designs until solar, wind, and perhaps even nuclear fusion or clean coal become practical options since the fuel for nuclear fission is dangerous. However, we should not give up nuclear fission power now since, as of recent years, nuclear power is more feasible and cost-effective than all those