The Bleak Future of Nuclear Energy Term Paper by scribbler

The Bleak Future of Nuclear Energy
A discussion on the physical and social properties of nuclear power and its future as an alternative fuel source.
# 152439 | 1,396 words | 8 sources | APA | 2013 | US
Published on Feb 12, 2013 in Environmental Studies (Environmental Problems) , Physics (Matter and Energy)


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Description:

This paper describes the environmental challenges associated with nuclear power and discusses how they are a direct consequence of the physical process involved with its production. Next, the paper addresses the social effects of nuclear power's more salient purpose as a method to committing mass destruction, and explains how this contributes to a highly speculative future as an energy source. The paper also notes the declining state of so many nuclear facilities due to neglect and public ambivalence and how this has not only diminished the efficiency of this process but has also produced a scenario where a nuclear facility disaster is almost inevitable. In conclusion, the paper predicts that the future of nuclear power is extremely bleak.

From the Paper:

"Contrary to oil, nuclear power can be produced to infinitude through the process of fission, diminishing resource dependencies which tend to provoke international conflict, long-term land-transformation and reliance upon inevitably dwindling means of energy production. The process which yields nuclear energy is inherently more efficient than the yielding of fossil fuels, at least with respect to the ability which we possess to stimulate this process. This is distinct from the need to locate and seize finite and often remote lodes of coal or petroleum.
"The primary element used to stimulate the process in the American market nuclear sector is uranium. Uranium is placed in a 'pressurized water reactor' which is then heated to the point of achieving its vapor state. As a steam, the uranium enters a turbine which, when connected to an electrical generator, produces electricity. (NI, 1) The most commonly associated image of the uniquely shaped twin cooling tower is use to cool the steam following the generation process. (NI, 1) The pressurized heating of uranium is responsible for the process known as fission. Here, "the nuclei of the atoms break up; this frees neutrons and releases energy in the form of heat." (QA International, 1)"

Sample of Sources Used:

  • CBS. (2004). Yucca Mountain. 60 Minutes.
  • EPA. (2005). Fact Sheet on Proposed Amendments to EPA's Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protections Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada (40 CFR Part 197). Yucca Mountain Standards: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Flavin, C. & Lenssen, N. (1993). The Nuclear Power Industry is at a Standstill. USA Today: Society for the Advancement of Education, 121.
  • Krieger, D. (2005). Nuclear Arms Control Treaties. Nuclear Files
  • Kritsky, W.G. & Loiselle, V. (1999). Nuclear Power for the 21st Century: There Is Life for the Nuclear Industry in the New Millennium If It Is Willing to Create Its Own Future. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 14.

Cite this Term Paper:

APA Format

The Bleak Future of Nuclear Energy (2013, February 12) Retrieved December 10, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/term-paper/the-bleak-future-of-nuclear-energy-152439/

MLA Format

"The Bleak Future of Nuclear Energy" 12 February 2013. Web. 10 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/term-paper/the-bleak-future-of-nuclear-energy-152439/>

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