Course Name: MGT 163 ETHICS FOR BUSINESS

Assignment Number: 2

Section Number: 4

Submitted to faculty: Prof. Nimit Thaker

Date of Submission: 9th May, 2022

Student Details

Roll No. Name of the Student Name of the Program

AU2010011 Ashwathy Pillai BBA Hons.

AU2000013 Santvana Ganatra BBA Hons.

AU2010032 Khim Maru BBA Hons.

AU2010016 Neel Maru BBA Hons.

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PART A)
TOPIC: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

INTRODUCTION:
A nuclear power plant (abbreviated as NPP) is a thermal power station with a nuclear reactor as
the heat source. Heat is used to generate steam, which drives a steam turbine, which is connected
to a generator, that produces electricity, as is typical of thermal power plants. According to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, there were 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32
countries as of 2022. With booming industrial, population, and commercial growth, the demand
for electricity is rapidly increasing. The world is expanding at such a rapid pace that electricity
demand will double every ten years. At the same time, fossil fuels (such as coal, gas, and oil)
have a finite supply and cannot meet this demand. As a result, the future world believes that any
alternative source of energy, including nuclear power plants, is the only solution. (Mechanical
Tutorial, 2018)
Nuclear power plants are frequently used for baseload because their operations, maintenance,
and fuel costs are at the lower end of the cost spectrum. However, the construction of a nuclear
power plant typically takes five to ten years, which can result in significant financial costs
depending on how the initial investments are financed. Nuclear power plants have a carbon
footprint comparable to renewable energy sources such as solar farms and wind farms, but
significantly lower than fossil fuels such as natural gas and brown coal. Nuclear power plants,
despite some spectacular disasters, are among the safest modes of electricity generation,
comparable to solar and wind power plants. (Perrow, 2019)

IDENTIFICATION OF ETHICAL TENSIONS:

The ethical issues of nuclear energy are concerned with the comparison of the benefits and risks
of nuclear power, the catastrophic impact of nuclear accidents, fact disclosure, as well as safety
regulations and violations. These issues have a significant impact on global health. Individually,
they are discussed in the following paragraphs. (Xiang & Zhu, 2011, 11)

1. Impact on the Environment: This has both positive as well as negative implications. On
one hand, nuclear energy is environmentally friendly, emits no greenhouse gasses, and
produces far fewer wastes than conventional energy. With increased energy demand and
diminishing fossil fuel supplies, nuclear energy, a more sustainable alternative to wind
and solar energy, appears to be a viable option to replace fossil fuel energy. Nuclear
energy, on the other hand, is not green; it involves the mining and refining of radioactive
raw materials, as well as the disposal of radioactive wastes, which harms the environment
and poses health risks to nearby residents.

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 2. Impact On Local Residents: As previously stated, nuclear energy necessitates the
mining, enrichment, transportation, as well as disposal of radioactive materials, and most
of them are located in densely populated areas. Residents living near these activities are
at an increased risk of cancer and other health problems as a result of long-term exposure
to low-level radioactivity; a nuclear accident will raise this risk to a new level. This
violates the principles of justice and nonmaleficence. There is currently no long-term
solution for nuclear waste disposal.

3. Nuclear Accidents are Catastrophic: According to the IAEA, several major nuclear
accidents have already occurred, including the Kyshtym accident (level 6), the Three
Miles accident (level 5), the Chernobyl disaster (level 7, the highest-ranking for nuclear
disasters), and the ongoing Fukushima disaster (level 7). (2008). Large amounts of
radioactive particles and gas were released into the atmosphere and spread throughout
Europe during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Aside from death and mutations in humans,
animals, and plants, the long-term effect involved prolonged low dose radiation (I-131,
Cs-134, and Cs-137, among others) over a large population in Europe, which increased
the risks for cancer and other diseases (Hatch et al., 2005).

PROS:

When compared to other types of power plants, nuclear power plants have numerous advantages.
Some of them are listed below:

1. As the demand for fuel is so low, the cost of fuel transportation, storage, and so on is
minimal.
2. A nuclear power plant requires less space than any other power station of comparable
size. For example, a 100 MW nuclear power station requires 38-40 acres of land, whereas
a coal-fired thermal power plant requires 120-130 acres.
3. As a large amount of fuel (such as water or coal) is not required, nuclear power plants can
be located near load centers.
4. Nuclear Power Plants are very cost-effective in terms of producing large amounts of
electricity.
5. Using a small amount of fuel, this plant generates a large amount of electrical energy.
6. This plant is extremely dependable in operation.
7. Since then, there has been a significant increase in the availability of nuclear fuel in the
world. As a result, a nuclear power plant can continuously generate electrical energy for
thousands of years.

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CONS:

1. Bad for the environment: Main source behind the production of Nuclear Energy is
Uranium. It is extracted from the ore of earth and therefore, it is renewable energy. If we
keep extracting uranium from earth thinking nuclear is a very cheap form of energy then
it will lead to destruction of earth.

2. Waste Management: Waste produced by Nuclear energy is very toxic. This waste is
highly radioactive. Therefore, Nuclear waste cannot be stored or disposed of in a secure
manner without the development of safe technology. Currently, operational power plants
store their waste at on-ground facilities. One Waste generated does not destroy for
hundreds and thousands of years.

3. Risk of terror atack: Generally, terrosists attacks assets which are expensive and which
creates mass destruction. Nuclear power plants use resources which are highly
radioactive. Therefore, security is very important for these plants, otherwise these can
lead to an example of attack on Hiroshima and nagasaki.

4. Expensive Investment: Nuclear power plants are very costly to construct, its
maintenance, security and cost of managing toxic waste becomes very costly. Therefore,
it offset the advantages and makes it less appealing to invest in this project.

DISCUSSION OF ETHICAL TENSION:

Nuclear plants produce clean energy but this energy after being produced leaves some tension
which some parts of society have to bear. Every knows nuclear energy is produced at less cost
but no one talks about the workers which are working 24*7 in the plant. Radioactive materials
develop cancer inside the body of workers and any mistake in the plant becomes a risk of life for
the workers. For earning some profit we are exploiting workers and harming the environment.
Therefore, the theory of Utilitarianism applies. Less costly and clean energy is the end-state of
happiness but some workers have to sacrifice. Here Sacrifice of few workers is considered as
ethical for happiness of greater good.

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ARGUMENTS:

Here mainly there are arguments about safety of workers and residents, waste management,
Environmental destruction. This problems can be solved by following way:

1). Nuclear Plant Safety can be increased by appointing some authority who are responsible for
tracking all the happenings and safety measures of the plant. This can reduce major accidents.

2). Research and development teams should be formed to make technology advancements to
dispose of harmful residuals of nuclear energy. This can be beneficial to both society and the
environment.

3). Nuclear plants should be made away from forests and human population so that in case any
accidents occur then it does not harm animals, humans and other resources.

If we conclude, then there are pros and cons, but if these arguments are solved seriously then
expensive investment can be beneficial to all the people of the society. It depends on us to take
each and every member of earth including animals for doing such projects and does not harm any
of them.

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 References

● Mechanical Tutorial. (2018). Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Plants.

Mechanical Tutorial. Retrieved May 4, 2022, from

https://www.mechanicaltutorial.com/nuclear-power-plant-advantages-and-disadvantages-

of-nuclear-power-stations

● Perrow, C. (2019). Nuclear power plant. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 4, 2022, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_plant

● Xiang, H., & Zhu, Y. (2011). The Ethics Issues of Nuclear Energy: Hard Lessons Learned

from Chernobyl and Fukushima. Online Journal Of Health Ethics, 7(2), 11.

https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=ojhe

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POSTER