Friday, April 23, 2010

Nuclear Power

On February 16th 2010 President Obama promised up to $8.33 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of new nuclear reactors in Georgia. This nuclear reactor will be the first to be built since the 1970’s. Since many people do not know much about the pros and cons of nuclear power I’ll give a brief overview. Nuclear power accounts for about 20% of the energy needs in the US. One of the main attractions to nuclear power is the low emission of greenhouse gases. In addition to the low emissions nuclear power plants also can generate a lot of energy in a single location. A single power plant can have an energy generation capacity of 3,825 mw. Another advantage to nuclear power is that once the plant is built it has a low operating cost. As there are many advantages to nuclear power there are also many disadvantages. The first and most notable disadvantage is the waste that nuclear power plants generate. The waste is radioactive and will take thousands of years before it will be safe for humans. Also an accident at the plant can be catastrophic, as we saw in Chernobyl. Another disadvantage is that it is a limited energy source so it will not be able to solve all of our energy needs. The last disadvantage ill bring up is the cost of building a nuclear power plant is extremely high. It can cost between $3-5 billion dollars to build. So now that you have heard some of the pros and cons do you think we should be pursuing nuclear power in the US to fulfill out energy needs? Do you think nuclear power is economically feasible? Can nuclear energy help reduce emissions?

http://www.neis.org/literature/Brochures/npfacts.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/energy/2964-obama-pledges-nuclear-power-loan-guarantees

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ask/electricity_faqs.asp

5 comments:

  1. I am a bit weary of the nuclear power plant idea. My first question would be how much energy is 3825mw...or how large of an urban area is that able to generate power for. The tradeoff seems very high between no greenhouse gases but thousands of years of radioactive waste. We have not used nuclear power plants for a thousand years yet, so we can only guess and assume what major impacts radioactive waste has on the environment over those years. If in deed the nuclear power plant idea takes off, I do not want any radioactive waste being disposed ANYWHERE need myself or future family. Since nuclear energy is not a sustainable energy solution, I am not yet sold on the idea because of the negative consequences we will see.

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  2. I think that nuclear energy is a good alternative to fossil fuels just because there are no emissions. While handling nuclear waste is a huge challenge, climate change is a much bigger problem that must be tackled immediately. In the future, opportunities for renewables like solar and wind will be greater, and advances in technology might solve the nuclear waste problem.

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  3. I think that the $8.33 billion dollar loan should be used for an alternative fuel that does not create extremely hazardous waste. It is great the nuclear power does not produce emissions but so do other renewable resources. Where are they planning to put the radioactive waste that takes a thousand years to be safe? I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

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  4. I think that nuclear energy could be a big player in alternative energy sources in the future. We need to first figure out how we can either dispose of the waste or make the waste safe to be near humans though. We have a responsibility to the planet to not create more waste and to not ship that waste to third world countries. Once we have nuclear waste figured out, I think we will have a viable alternative energy source.

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  5. Nuclear energy is certainly the lesser of many evils where cons are concerned. I agree that they create nasty waste, but we have developed systems for managing that waste safely. As discussed with one of the guest lecturers, I agree that our way out of this coal world will require many different forms of 'greener?' energy.... even if they are limited.

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