Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Clean Air Energy: Nuclear Power
Despite some drawbacks when referring to the safety of disposal and maintenance of radioactive waste due to the long half-life of many byproducts, nuclear energy is one of the most promising technologies to help the human species reduce our carbon footprint.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, "nuclear plants are the lowest-cost producer of baseload electricity. The average production cost of 1.72 cents per kilowatt-hour includes the costs of operating and maintaining the plant, purchasing fuel and paying for the management of used fuel."
This graph clearly compares the production cost of several various forms of energy. Clearly, petroleum, which accounts for a high percentage of usage, has the highest production cost while the production cost of nuclear energy is much lower per kilowatt-hour.
Nuclear power plants aid compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1970, which sets standards to improve the nation's air quality. Because nuclear power plants generate heat from fission rather than from burning fuel, they produce no greenhouse gases or emissions associated with acid rain or urban smog.
Additionally, nuclear energy keeps American business growth competitive, as well as provides local job growth in places where plants are built.
While nuclear energy should not be considered as the only source of alternative energy, allowing the construction of new plants and increasing the productivity of old ones would serve the environment and the economy positively.
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1 comment:
While I completely agree and think that nuclear energy should be considered, is it not a concern about where the radioactive waste that is produced from this process is going to be disposed of? I know that we talked in much detail about this in class, and discussed various other alternatives that could be used to lower the effects of the greenhouse gases that are emitted by coal into the environment, but what can really be done about the nuclear waste that is produced? As a nation we can't very well find a place to store it because the waste will build up, and the waste is radioactive for such a long period of time. Likewise, if the nuclear waste was to fall into the wrong person's hands we could have many more problems than we already have within our world, dealing with mass destruction weapons. Furthermore, if for some reason the waste leaks and is not properly taken care of then we are left with the effects that the waste has on individuals that are come in contact with the radioactive waste. This are just concerns I have. Although, I am all for using nuclear power over the combustion of coal as power I still think there are issues that need to be addressed, that in the long run could have a great and much more negative impact on our environment, than the greenhouse gases emitted.
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