Nuclear Energy: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly PDF
Document Details
Tags
Summary
This document discusses nuclear energy, outlining its benefits (clean energy source, relatively cheap energy production, large energy output) and drawbacks (water intensive, use of uranium). Additional information covers reactor safety, meltdowns and other nuclear incidents, including case studies like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Full Transcript
Nuclear Energy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Good Clean Energy Source - Nuclear energy is the largest source of clean power in the United States. - Generates nearly 800 billion kw hours of electricity each year - That is more than half of the nation's emissi...
Nuclear Energy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Good Clean Energy Source - Nuclear energy is the largest source of clean power in the United States. - Generates nearly 800 billion kw hours of electricity each year - That is more than half of the nation's emission–free electricity - This is about 470 million metric tons of carbon each year, which is equivalent of removing 100 million cars off the road. Relatively Cheap - Although nuclear power require a high cost to create a power plant, it’s relative cheap to produce energy from uranium - Price fluctuations are limited - Technological advancements Energy Output - The energy released is ten million times greater than the amount released when burning fossil fuels. - One power plant can produce a thousand of megawatt hours of energy - Very little amounts needed - Doesn’t require anything but a plant - Nonstop Production Nuclear Fusion is King - Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of harnessing energy - The process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy - This technology is close to being efficient in net energy The Bad Water Intensive - Nuclear power plants require a lot of water to produce energy - In 2015, the US consumed billion gallons of water to produce nuclear power - This is more water than coal processing - Climate Change Non Renewables - Eventually we will run out of uranium. - Mining uranium - Experts believe that 200 years worth of uranium is available - At the current rate - If we were to switch to nuclear energy as a primary alternative… - We would deplete it even faster The Ugly Nuclear Meltdowns - A nuclear meltdown is an accident resulting from severe heating and a lack of sufficient cooling at the reactor core, and it occurs in different stages. - Release and exposure of potential high radiation How common are nuclear meltdowns? There has been only one almost complete nuclear meltdowns in the history of nuclear energy - Chernobyl Other Nuclear Incidents Take 10 minutes to research your assigned topic 1) Windscale Fire 2) Three Mile Island 3) Tokaimura 4) SL1 Island 5) Fukushima - What caused it? Who were affected? Was it preventable? Any similarities and differences? Fukushima Documentary HW: Chernobyl Case Study Documentary - What is a complete meltdown? - What makes chernobyl different from the other areas we spoke about? - What came out of chernobyl? Societal effects? Economic effects? Political effects? In and out of Ukraine? - Is there any important implications for Chernobyl and today’s age? Technology to fight against meltdowns - More frequent maintenance - Backup backup generators - More monitoring on seismic activity - Coast plants are built with anti-flooding systems and anti-electric loss sytems - Move more plants inland - Switching coolants Overall, don’t panic
