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Nuclear Energy By Chandresh Zinzuwadia Final Research Paper Diane Wahto 07/16/07

I. Introduction A. Definition of Nuclear Energy B. Some Information about Nuclear Energy Thesis Statement: Nuclear energy should be promoted. It is efficient, safe and advantageous. II. Advantages of Nuclear energy A. Helps to reduce Global warming. B. Small Quantity and big output. III. Disadvantages of Nuclear energy A. Radiations are harmful. B. It is very costly to run a plant. C. Disposal of waste is a problem. IV. Solutions and problems that have been taken care of. A. Radiation is not a problem. B. Safe and sufficient ways have been developed to manage wastes. V. Safety measures to protect people. A. How the plant is built to ensure safety of people and environment. VI. Conclusion A. Overview of the above.

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Chandresh Zinzuwadia Professor Wahto English 102 07/15/2007 December 2nd 1942 marked the begging of nuclear era when the first self sustaining chain reaction occurred at University of Chicago. The first reactor was built in the squash court at the university. After this success, people started to concentrate more on building weapons for use at World War II. In 1945, two bombs were dropped: one in Hiroshima, Japan and the other in Nagasaki, Japan. This marked the end of World War II and the true beginning and use of nuclear power (Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology). The results of the bombing, as we all know, were catastrophic and its effects are still being seen. This sad, but true event filled scientists with guilt and they were awed and frightened due to the deaths and destruction they had caused. Hence, scientists and the government of United States invested billions of dollars in research and development in order to develop harmless uses of nuclear energy (Pringle, 3). Nuclear energy is a form of energy released by the processes of fission, fusion or radioactive decay. Heavy radioactive elements are bombarded with neutrons which breaks them into lighter elements by releasing more neutrons. The released neutrons then bombard with the lighter elements formed which further initiates the breakdown of elements. This process goes on and on and each breakdown releases a large amount of energy. The development of this energy had many oppositions due to its dangerous effects. On the other hand, it also has a lot of advantages which made people more curious to develop it. Today, the use of nuclear energy is still questioned and debated and it still has opposition from many

people. But things are changing and now there are new ways of controlling nuclear energy. It is efficient, safe and advantageous. People need to know this and let nuclear energy develop. Global warming, a major concern of the world and we all know how drastic its effects are. We all notice the changes in weather and the rise of temperature. Winters are becoming warmer and spring comes earlier. The increase in temperature causes the meltdown of ice. In the arctic area and Greenland, ice melts from the mountains and all the water is deposited into the ocean, which results into the rise of water level. This can result into flooding of many low lying coastal cities. Even a two meter rise in the water level of the ocean is enough to put whole of southern Florida underwater (Lovelock). Global warming is very dangerous for us humans and the environment. The emission of green house gases is increasing day by day and many ways and methods are being employed to cut its emission. This makes the use of nuclear energy advantageous since it produces very less or no green house gases (USA Today). According to calculations made by the Nuclear Energy Agency, if the use of nuclear power was tripled by 2050, emissions of carbon dioxide would reduce by 6.3 billion tonnes a year (Laurent). Hence, we can see how nuclear energy can help reduce the Global warming. For producing nuclear energy, very less amount of raw material is required. This is another advantage as it helps the environment from being exploited and also is efficient since a small amount of raw material gives relatively large amount of product. Pringle has said that, Fission of one uranium atom produces millions of times more energy than the burning of one coal atom (9). The fuel used to produce energy is in the form of uranium oxide pellets. Pringle also said that, Each half-inch pellet can produce energy equal to about twelve barrels of oil or three tons of coal (10). We can relate the difference in the quantity and amount of energy released and it is clear that nuclear energy is more advantageous due to its less use of raw materials, hence less exploitation of the

Zinzuwadia 5 environment. Availability of raw materials for production of nuclear energy is another advantage. Uranium is easily available and there are plenty reserves around the world. The world reserves of uranium have increased by fifty percent by the end of 2003 (University of Melbourne). This discovery is recent and as more money is invested, more uranium will be discovered. Nuclear energy can also be produced by thorium, which is three times more abundant than Uranium (University of Melbourne). Since very less amount of raw materials are required to produce large amounts of energy, these reserves are bound to last long. Nuclear energy has a lot of opposition mainly because of the fear in peoples mind. This fear has been created due to the dangerous effects of the radiations. The radiations from a radioactive material are very dangerous. It can cause cancer and disorders in children and fetuses. When a pregnant women is exposed to radiations, her child can be affected. The radiations can also kill people and sometimes they have long term effects. If a person is exposed to the radiations, the result might be instant or the person can fall sick after a long period of time. These radiations also cause skin damage if exposed for a long time (Nuclear Energy Agency 50). Reproductive cells exposed to radiations can undergo genetic modifications (Nuclear Energy Agency 51). The fact that radioactive materials have long half-lives adds up to this problem. This means that the radiations exist for a long period of time and last until the material is diminished. Half-life is the rate at which radioactive elements decay. It is the time required for half of the original amount to decay. For example, an element called strontium-90 has a half life of thirty years. Therefore, after thirty years half of the original amount of strontium will be left. In a similar fashion, the whole amount will decay until only a tiny fraction is left. It would take at least six hundred years for this element to be harmless. With elements such as uranium that have a half-life of about 0.7 billion years, we can imagine how long the radiations will affect the

people (Pringle 13-14). Another hurdle in the path of nuclear energy development is cost. The whole process, from extracting raw material to depositing of the waste products, can cost billions of dollars. The handling costs of a nuclear plant are immense. The major expenses are for building it, disposal of the wastes and investment for the safety of people. Pringle mentions that nuclear power has become a drain to the economy and a stimulus to inflation. In 1988 its cost to the United States was estimated at $100 billion. Of this total, about $30 billion represented nuclear plants that were abandoned. The remaining $70 billion represented the extra cost of operating completed nuclear plants (58). Storage of waste products is another problem that a nuclear plant faces. The waste products from a plant are highly toxic and need to be stored in a safe place away from people. The waste products are divided into three, namely Low-level waste, Intermediate-level waste and High-level waste. Low-level waste includes items that come into contact with short lived radioactivity, such as rubber gloves, syringes, containers and more. Intermediate-level waste is more industrial. Equipment that has been used in conjunction with nuclear materials or resins used in the clean-up of radioactive liquids are examples of Intermediate-level wastes. High-level waste consists of highly radioactive and long lived remains of the process. This may include the fuel that has been used up (Nuclear Energy Agency 31). The waste needs to be disposed depending on its type. A lot of money is spent for this since it is a safety concern and includes life-taking risks. Now a days, after doing a lot of research, scientists have come with some solutions, suggestions and ideas by which the effects of use of nuclear energy can be minimized. Money is being invested and people are being educated about nuclear energy. Firstly, the radiations that everyone is scared of, are harmful, thats true but only if received in a very high dose. This is rare and only affects the workers and people around the site and there are very less people who live

Zinzuwadia 7 near reactors. In fact, the truth is low radiations are not harmful to human body, instead they are advantageous. It stimulates the immune system and checks the oxidation of DNA. This in turn helps to prevent cancer (Miller). With the presence of 442 nuclear power plants in thirty two countries, Chernobyl, is the only accident in the history of nuclear power where radiation-based fatalities have occurred. In that accident, which occurred in 1986, 134 employees have been affected and 28 died. Approximately 70 other cases of thyroid cancer were found in children. Pregnant women who did not abort their fetuses, delivered their children normally. The children did not have any genetic disorders or abnormalities (Miller). In the history of nuclear power, this has been the only case where people were actually harmed due to radiations. If we compare this to the life taking instances when energy is produced from coal, we get a different picture about nuclear energy. Bernand Cohen writes that, 30,000 deaths per year in the U.S result from air pollution due to emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants. Another thing that can be pointed out is that the use of fossil fuels not only causes air pollution, but also releases immense amount of carbon dioxide that causes global warming. Hence, we can see that nuclear power is not that dangerous, it is just the fear and image that people have in their minds which makes them oppose its development. Management of wastes is another issue where a lot of people argue and oppose. The waste products from a nuclear plant are dangerous but there are many ways that have been developed in order to manage these wastes. The wastes are divided into three categories as discussed above, and each of these have their own disposal ways. Today, the plants follow a waste management practice. The activities they carry out in order to manage wastes are: minimizing the amounts created, where existing facilities try to reduce the amount of wastes; conditioning and packing, where solid Low-level waste and Intermediate-level waste are super-compacted into much smaller volumes and radioactive elements are removed from liquids,

they are solidified in concrete and packed in steel drums or boxes; interim storage, is intended for retrieval of useful wastes and for reducing radiations of high-level wastes. All the waste here is kept under surveillance and monitored for safety reasons; disposal, is the the final step in the radioactive waste management where the waste is disposed and it is made sure that no harm will be done to public and the environment (Nuclear Energy Agency 33-34). Now a days, waste is managed very carefully and precautions are taken so that nothing is harmed. Also compared to coal, nuclear energy has very less amount of wastes. A coal plant produces 320 pounds of ash and other poisonous gases per person per year while nuclear power plant produces high-level waste of about the size of one aspirin tablet per person per year (Miller). The comparison clearly shows that the waste products given out by a nuclear plant are very minimal than that given by the burning of fossil fuels. For all the problems that nuclear energy once faced there have been improvements and with the advancement in science and technology, more better ways to will be found to tackle the safety issues. Safety comes first. Keeping this in mind, there are so many safety measures taken to protect the people and the environment from harmful radiations. The Nuclear Energy Agency explains the safety measures in Nuclear Energy Today and are summarized as follows. The selection of a site for a nuclear power plant is governed by national legislation and are generally sited away from populated areas. The plant is designed with five steps of defense and protection methods. These are prevention of failures, detection and control of failures, control of design basis accidents, control of severe accidents and emergency plans. The plant systems are put in place to ensure that (1) the fission process can at all times be shut down almost instantaneously (2) radioactive material is at all times contained and (3) residual heat is removed as soon as the plant is shutdown in order to protect the strength of the barrier. The ultimate barrier is the

Zinzuwadia 9 containment vessel, a concrete structure designed to contain the radioactive material if released by the reactors and protect the reactor from external harm such as explosions, fires, missiles etc. A good example is the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, where the concrete vessel successfully protected people and prevented injuries. It is made sure that all the equipments used are of high quality and follow the special standards set for them. Comprehensive testing is done before the plant is ready to produce electricity. Large number of tests are conducted to make sure that each and every component of the system is working (41-46). Intense measures are taken to ensure safety. The process above is time consuming and expensive, but every nuclear plant has to follow the procedures. More safety measures are also being studied. With such safety measures, the chances of occurrence of a major disaster is very rare. Only 17% of worlds electricity is supplied by nuclear power (Nuclear Energy Agency). After looking at the advantages, disadvantages, problems that have been taken care of and safety measures that are being employed this figure is not satisfying. Today, the world is endangered by global warming and pollution and use of nuclear energy is one way through which production of green house gases can be cut off. As science and technology advances there is a great demand for huge amount of power and the resources are running low. Nuclear energy does not use too much fuel and still produces the same amount of energy and even more. People need to be educated and the fear that they have in their minds needs to be removed. Nuclear energy is safe, efficient, reliable and advantageous.

Works cited "As Globe Heats Up, Nation Warms to Nuclear Power." USA Today 16 May 2007 15 Jul 2007 <http://dn3kg6nn2s.search.serialssolutions.com/directLink?&atitle=As%20globe%20heats %20up%2C%20nation%20warms%20to%20nuclear %20power&author=&issn=07347456&title=USA %20TODAY&volume=&issue=&date=20070516&spage=A.11&id=doi:&sid=ProQ_ss&genre= article&lang=en>. Cohen, Bernard. "The Nuclear Power Advantage." Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy. 17 Jul 2007 <http://www.ecolo.org/documents/documents_in_english/nuclear_advantage_Cohen.en.htm>. Laurent, Christine. "Beating Global Warming with Nuclear Power?." The Courier Feb. 2001. 14 Jul 2007 <http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_02/uk/planet.htm>. Lovelock, James. "Nuclear Power is Is the only Green Solution." The Independent 24 May 2004 14 Jul 2007 <http://www.ecolo.org/media/articles/articles.in.english/love-indep-2405-04.htm>. Miller, Donald. "Advantages of Nuclear Power." LewRockwell.com. 14 Apr 2004. 17 Jul 2007 <http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller13.html>. Nuclear Energy Agency, Nuclear Energy Today. Paris: OECD Publications, 2003. Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, "The History of Nuclear Energy." Nuclear Engineering. U.S. Deparment of Energy. 17 Jul 2007 <http://www.nuc.umr.edu/nuclear_facts/history/history.html>. Pringle, Laurence. Nuclear Energy: Troubled Past, Uncertain Future. 1st. New York:

Zinzuwadia 11 Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989. University of Melbourne, "Availability of Usable Uranium." nuclearinfo.net. 17 Jul 2007 < http://nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/WebHomeAvailabilityOfUsableUranium>.