Nuclear energy - Argumentative essay PDF

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Nuclear energy is the future We are constantly looking for an energy source that can both provide for our growing demand of electricity, while still reducing global emissions. Solar and wind power are both climate friendly but cannot keep up with the production of electricity. Coal can continue to provide large amounts of energy, but instead fail to reduce emissions.

Mankind produced 36.2 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2017 (according to ourworldindata.org). A staggering 10% of this is produced by more than 600 coal-fired electric plants in the United States (U.S Energy Information Administration). Covering more than a third of the U.S annual emissions, coal contribute with both electricity and heating. Replacing coal has therefore proven to be quite a challenge. Especially when the demand for electricity is expected to double in the U.S by the year 2030. Considering how fossil fuels play such a major role in our society they cannot be replaced by inefficient alternatives.

Solar and wind power are both environmentally friendly and a favourable pick for many households, but they are also irregular and unpredictable. Because of this, they simply can’t replace big baseload plants such as nuclear, coal and hydroelectric. Natural gas (a fossil fuel) is already expensive enough, the price is also too volatile to risk building big baseload plants. Considering that hydroelectric resources are already built to nearly full capacity, nuclear power is the most prominent replacement for coal. Nuclear energy is the only cost-effective, large-scale energy source that can reduce emissions while keeping up with the demand for power.

However, nuclear energy has proven its capability to annihilate entire communities as nuclear weapons. This is a popular argument used to oppose nuclear energy, the risk of causing our own extinction is just not worth it. Especially not when it has already happened at the powerplant in Chernobyl were thousands of inhabitants and emergency workers died (World Health Organization). Even though people lost their lives that day because of a nuclear powerplant, many fails to understand that we live in a different time. You can’t draw any conclusion based on similarities with the past, especially if it happened many decades ago. A UNSCEAR report stated that this is the only major accident related with nuclear powerplants were people have died.

Studies conducted by numerous health entities show that there have been no radiation-related deaths among commercial nuclear power plants, and they have produced electricity for over half a century. Nuclear facilities are instead of proving a safety hazard, effectively protecting the public’s health and safety. An example of this is the latest major accident revolving a nuclear powerplant in Fukushima, Japan. A United Nations committee report stated that none of the workers that died since the tsunami hit, died from radiation exposure.

The extraction of energy from a heated core is almost completely environmentally friendly. Water is used as a cooler when it’s liquid and runs through a turbine hooked up to a generator after it evaporates. Nuclear energy comes from steam and does not release any toxins, therefore not polluting the air. The radioactive waste is transported to a saferoom were it is isolated from nature.

In our modern society we have access to an energy source that is neither polluting our atmosphere nor cost ineffective. It is also capable of producing a large amount of electricity and heat. It has been proven to be safe and protective of our environment, yet it has received massive critique. Of course, there will always exist a risk of causing an accident. Mankind is not perfect, and mistakes are common, but does the one in a million scenario justify nuclear energy’s denial? Especially when it can help solve global warming which WHO (World Health Organization) estimate will cause 250.000 deaths every year by the year 2030.

Sources https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/ http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2008_1.html https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health...