Nuclear Power is not the Future
People think the nuclear power is the best alternate energy source for the future. But
they did not realize the disadvantages of the nuclear power. Nuclear power station is a big
radioactive source that harms people’s health. The nuclear power station also has the explosion
danger which likes a nuclear bomb. If some terrorists break it, the result is devastating and
terrible. The nuclear waste is also a big problem in the nuclear use because the nuclear waste has
high radiation and it needs thousands of years to attenuation. The recent technology do not has a
better method to deal with the nuclear waste than bury the nuclear waste into soil. Because of the
radiation from the nuclear waste, the soil which has nuclear waste cannot be used forever. The
use of nuclear power will cause second pollution because the nuclear power station need huge
amount of electricity to support the main installation. The cost of building a nuclear power
station is very expensive. The process of nuclear production will cause additional pollution. The
political problem in nuclear power use is also a big issue. The over use of nuclear power will
cause some political issues.
These are a lot of disadvantages of nuclear power. Even though the nuclear power can
help people solve electricity energy shortage, however there are more disadvantages of nuclear
power than advantages. The three disadvantages of nuclear power are: the nuclear radiation,
nuclear waste and the cost of nuclear. Countries around the world should control the use of
nuclear power to find some alternate energy source to reduce the dangerous effects of it.
A lot of people think that the nuclear power is the future because they only see the huge
production of electricity and the zero pollution of nuclear power station. The nuclear power has
no emission and the production of electricity is ten times than the normal power station. Like
Schulz (2006) said people think that nuclear power is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy
source that can reduce the greenhouse gas emission. These people only see the advantage of
nuclear power, but they do not found the disadvantage of nuclear power. The disadvantages of
nuclear power are more influentialthan the disadvantages. Some of the bad effects will be found
after so many years such as the radiation and pollution. The accident of nuclear power use
changes people’s mind easily.
In this year, Japanese nuclear crisis shock people’s mind completely. The accidents of
nuclear power station cause a huge amount of nuclear leak. The nuclear radiation will affect that
area for a very long time. The waste water of nuclear will pollute whole Pacific Ocean. In
Safina’s report (2011) said that the ocean cannot help Japanese to dilute the radiation pollution
and the radiation waste will pollute all the Pacific Ocean some years later. This nuclear power
station changes from a reliable electricity power source to a dangerous pollution source. This
Japanese nuclear accident make think about the nuclear power again. The nuclear power become
a debatable issue and enters people’s eyes.
The first disadvantage of nuclear is the high nuclear radiation. Every nuclear power
station has high nuclear radiation. Although the modern technology of nuclear power station can
reduce the radiation to a very low criterion, the radiation of nuclear power station also can affect
people’s health. Fairlie (2010) reported the children who lived within five km of all German
nuclear power station will have a increase 60 percent rate to get cancer and a increase 120
percent rate to get leukemia. It can show that the nuclear power station have high radiation
though the nuclear power station have technology to decrease the radiation. It will affect the
children's health. Because the effect of nuclear radiation has a period to break out, most people
do not realize the effect of nuclear. After some years, people will find the effects by the nuclear
power station radiation, but it is too late to save those people who get terrible diseases.
The nuclear power station is not safe as people’s thinking. The other disadvantage of the
nuclear power station is the high dangers. Wohlstetter (1968) said that the abuse of using the
radioactive element is so destructive. The nuclear power station is also a potential risk. It has the
risk to explore or leak radiation. The nuclear is harmful to people because nuclear is made to
weapon. We know that the nuclear can be made to powerful weapon, so the nuclear power station
also can destroy a big area. For example, the Japanese nuclear power station has the chance to
bomb which is very dangerous. When the nuclear power station explore, the energy of nuclear
will destroy the around area. The nuclear radiation will also leak. This leak is faster than the
normal nuclear leak. The nuclear power station will become very dangerous. The nuclear power
station can harm people’s health and it also is a high dangerous. Because of theses disadvantages
of nuclear power station, the government should control the number of nuclear power station to
reduce the influence from nuclear power station.
The second disadvantage of nuclear power is the nuclear waste. When the nuclear
energy use up, the nuclear waste will become a big problem. Like McCombie (2009) said
because of the limit of technology, people only can use a big geologic repository to deal with the
nuclear waste. Because the recent nuclear technology do not has a better way to deal with the
nuclear waste, people have to bury the nuclear waste into deep soil. This method cannot stop the
radiation from the nuclear waste because the nuclear waste also has radiation leak. The radiation
can pollute the soil for thousands of years. This means that if the soil touches the nuclear waste,
the soil cannot be use to plant forever. It is difficult to deal with the nuclear waste. Carter (1976)
said the nuclear waste can cause widespread radiological damage. Radioactive wastes may be a
menace to future generations and civilizations. People cannot avoid the pollution of nuclear
waste. A lot of big countries which have nuclear power station transport their nuclear waste to
some small and undeveloped countries to bury their nuclear waste. McCombie (2009) reported
that large countries always use the economic advantages to deal their nuclear waste in some
small countries. It is not a good method to reduce the countries’ nuclear pollution because the
premise is to pollute other countries.
The nuclear waste not only pollutes the environment, but also causes some security
problems. This nuclear waste also is the material to make nuclear weapon. Bodansky (1989)
reported that the plutonium in nuclear waste is an important source to make the nuclear weapon.
This situation can cause the political problem because this management of nuclear waste may
against the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. For example, in this Japanese nuclear crisis, the
censor from other countries find there are a lot of nuclear waste under the nuclear power station.
Some countries guess that Japan uses these nuclear wastes as the material to make nuclear bomb.
If some countries buy a lot of nuclear waste, no one knows how they can deal with the nuclear
waste. There are more than eighty thousand tons of untreated nuclear waste are waiting to deal.
When these dangerous nuclear wastes are transported on the road, they become the target of the
international terrorist organization. If the terrorists get these nuclear wastes, the result is
devastating. It will have bad effects to the public safety and the society stable. This situation
about the nuclear waste management could cause the political problem.
The third disadvantage of nuclear power is the high cost of nuclear using. Most people
only know the nuclear power can produce a large amount of electricity. They think the nuclear
power is the only power which does not have emission. This means the nuclear waste do not
have the greenhouse gas. The price of the electricity which is produced from the nuclear power
station is cheaper than the electricity from normal power station. The people do not know that the
cost to build a nuclear power station is very expensive and it can cause more pollution. At first, a
nuclear power station needs enriched uranium as their main energy source, but a uranium factory
needs two normal power stations to give energy. These two normal power stations cannot
produce electricity. They only support energy to the uranium factory. A nuclear power station is
more complex than a normal power station. It needs to spend more money than any other type of
power station. Grunwald (2011) mentioned that a complete nuclear power plants needs many
additional ancillary facilities which will cost more money than the normal power station. A
nuclear power station will cost more money, but most people do not realize this problem. They
only see the advantages of nuclear power.
Conference
Bodansky, D. (1989). Special report: Managing America's nuclear waste. Popular Mechanics,
166(6), 17. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Carter, J. (1976). Three steps toward nuclear responsibility. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,
32(8), 8-14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Fairlie, I. (2010). Childhood cancer near German nuclear power stations. Journal of
Environmental Science & Health, Part C -- Environmental Carcinogenesis &
Ecotoxicology Reviews, 28(1), 1-21. doi:10.1080/10590500903585366
Grunwald, M. (2011). The real cost of nuclear power. Time, 177(12), 39-41. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
McCombie, C. (2009). Evaluating solutions to the nuclear waste problem. Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists, 65(6), 42-48. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Schulz, M. (2006). Nuclear power is the future. Wilson Quarterly, 30(4), 59-63. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Safina, C. (Producer). (2011). In japan, will sea dilute radiation pollution. [Web]. Retrieved
from Http://www. Cnn. Com/2011/opinion/04/07/safina. Radiation. Water. Leak.
Japan/index. Html? Iref=allsearch.
Wohlstetter, A. (1968). Perspective on nuclear energy. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 24(4),
2-5. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.