Frank Nedwidek – English 15 – Section 25 – Kem Crimmins – Causal Paper

For many years, there has been a huge weight placed upon the shoulders of national and global leaders. This dark burden has been a hot topic in debate for many decades now and is coming close to boiling over. With fossil fuels dwindling and environmental advocates ranting, the $64,000 question has become, “What type of energy source can we implement in lieu of petroleum-based energy?” The answer to this huge question is something that can’t even be seen without magnification. Despite being a relatively new technology, nuclear energy is one of the most intensely studied fields currently. Human control of the power of nuclear fission has increased exponentially over the past few decades. With the constant supply of new technology and top-notch ingenuity, the advances in the nuclear power field give the future a new hope in terms of finding alternative energy sources. The fears and problems of this new energy method are very few and sporadic compared to the inevitable troubles of continued use of our earth’s fossil fuels. With a switch to this new means of energy come many upsides for the future of mankind. Included in these advantages is the chance to save our environment from various dangers caused by our old energy methods, as well as an economic incentive to change to a more abundant source of energy. These upsides, as well as others make it clear that nuclear power will lead to a better world.

Frequently, I have found that part of fear towards something is spawned from ignorance of that subject. So, to help get over the ignorance towards nuclear energy I will briefly describe the process of it. Comparing the elementary process of mining petroleum to use for energy with the complex method of using nuclear fission for energy is like comparing how ancient man used to hunt and gather food with today’s high-tech genetic food altering. Despite common belief, the fission process is quite simple. It consists of mainly two components, the fissile isotope of an element, and a neutron. The neutron goes through of a series of speed modifications before finally being sent directly into the fissile isotope, creating causing the isotope to break and send out more neutrons. The breaking of this isotope lets out energy that turns into thermal heat. This process will happen again and again freeing more and more energy. The thermal energy is captured through water, which turns it into steam that powers a turbine. Simply, the heat from fission is captured in the form of vaporizing water. With a new understanding of nuclear power, a remaining fear is that of an accident, such as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. These accidents were freaks of the sort and can be partially blamed on human negligence, not fission power. Safety is a top priority in the field of nuclear power, that’s why all nuclear reactors have a five-fold system of safety. This system is made up of the “fuel matrix which retains most of the fission products”, “cladding which surrounds the fuel pellets”, “leak tight coolant system”, “leak tight containment building”, as well as the distance from the population (Hochreiter 8,9).

The countless environmental advantages of nuclear power show that it will lead to a better world. Petroleum mining is a dangerous process that decimates the world in many ways. First, you must dig large holes deep into the Earth to find pockets of petroleum that can be sucked up for enrichment. Another problem with this is that we are drilling the Earth dry of fossil fuels, something that once it is gone, cannot be recreated. A comparable problem to a nuclear power accident is the chance of a petroleum spill, an accident that can kill wildlife and ruin a habitat. Another huge upside to fission power is the fact that it is a clean energy source for the most part. Uranium, the main source of energy, is an abundant isotope that takes minimal drilling because the process only requires small amounts. The creation of the energy doesn’t produce massive atmospheric pollution as is made with petroleum refining and enrichment. This helps stop the damage done on the atmosphere by the greenhouse effect and acid rain. “According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, U.S. nuclear power plants prevent 5.1 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 2.4 million tons of nitrogen oxide, and 164 million metric tons of carbon from entering the earth's atmosphere each year” (NS&T). Unlike our standard method of energy, nuclear power “does not produce air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, nitrogen oxides or particulates,” and the quantity of nuclear waste produced is miniscule (Wikipedia).

A change in the energy medium, from oil to nuclear, also has economical benefits that will lead to a better world. Over the past few years, it has become quite apparent that the Earth’s petroleum supply is diminishing and has become scarce. Gasoline prices have been on the rise for years and will only get higher. The world’s supply of oil is on the downward slope while the world’s dependency on it only grows higher. These differences in supply and demand will lead to higher and higher prices until either war breaks out over the remaining supply or until Mother Earth is bone dry. But, with nuclear power the energy source is abundant and scientists are rapidly working on ways it can be re-enriched to use again. The running of power plants for nuclear energy is much cheaper than other sources as tested in 1999, “the average cost of power generation by nuclear plants was 1.83 cents per kilowatt-hour, for coal-fired plants 2.07 cents, for oil 3.24 cents, and for gas 3.52 cents” (NS&T). These numbers will only go up as many measures are being taken to improve efficiency, such as, “improving the design of systems, installing more reliable equipment, using better information systems, enhancing integration of systems and coordination of their operations, observing better work planning and work management, sharing lessons learned about plant operations throughout the industry, and providing higher levels of training” (NEI). A combination of environmental and economical benefits is seen by the characteristic of nuclear power, “as an emission-free source of electricity generation, nuclear energy eliminates compliance costs that would otherwise be imposed on fossil-fired plants” (NEI).

From the way the world has been using oil, it is certain that it will run out and we will have to use another energy source. Nuclear power is the future for energy and it will lead to a better world. Its new-age technology provides countless advantages over current oil technology in many different senses. This clean energy is helping to end the greenhouse effect problem as well as acid rain. The smaller amount of mining is helping to keep the Earth as it is now, and how it always should be. A change in the near future would prevent us from using up the fossil fuel petroleum. Equally important is the fact that this cleaner technology is also more cost-effective in terms of creating electricity. Over time and through advancements, nuclear energy will come out on top as a new means for energy for an improved world.

Works Cited
"Economic Benefits." __NEI__. 13 Mar. 2006 <http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=2&amp;amp;catid=282>.
"Electricity." __NS&T__. 14 Mar. 2006 <http://www.aboutnuclear.org/view.cgi?fC=Electricity,Benefits_^_Effects>.
Hochreiter, Dr. L. E. Lecture. Breazeale Nuclear Reactor, State College. 28 Feb. 2006. 13 Mar. 2006 <https://cms.psu.edu/section/default.asp?WCU=CRSCNT&amp;amp;id=200506SPUP+++RNUC+E001S001>.
"Nuclear Power Plant." __Wikipedia__. 14 Mar. 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_plant#Advantages_and_disadvantages>.

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