Current Issues - The Nuclear Power Debate

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at both sides of the nuclear power debate. It focuses on global warming, political violence and the likelihood of change. The author looks at Chernobyl, and Three Mile lsland and how activists on both sides used it to further their message. It also looks at different facilities, their monitoring processes and ways to decrease the chances of accidents occurring in these plants. It also looks at recent incidents at nuclear facilities in the United States, Japan and Germany that have led to the re-evaluation of those government's nuclear policies. As a final note, the author presents many examples of demonstrations against the use of nuclear power, worldwide, to show how this has become a global issue.

From the Paper:

"Yet, dissenting voices call attention to the dangers of nuclear power: specifically, the devastating effects of the explosion at Chernobyl of the former Soviet Union in 1986, and the contamination of the plant Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania which happened earlier, in 1979. The Chernobyl explosion sent nuclear fallout for miles immediately surrounding the plant, making much of the land uninhabitable. In addition, radiation that caused severe environmental damage to the surrounding areas has been attributed to rising cancer rates throughout Europe. Though the plant at Three Mile Island did not suffer such a catastrophe due to a containment facility, which prevented radioactive materials from being released into the atmosphere, and therefore avoided severe environmental damage, the plant is now thoroughly contaminated, and it cannot be destroyed. Environmentalists argue that increased safety precautions are not enough; accidents like the aforementioned can, and will, happen again. The sound the call not for more nuclear power plants, but the halt of production of new nuclear power plants, and in some cases, argue that nuclear energy in its entirety should be phased out of the energy equation (Janger et. al., 219)."

More papers on Current Issues - The Nuclear Power Debate:

• Comparison Essay # 74961 : "Alternative Energy: Nuclear Power or Hybrid Cars"
• Persuasive Essay # 141258 : "Nuclear Power and Generation"
• Analytical Essay # 73350 : "Nuclear Power Plants"

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