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After attending the workshop, I decided on the following topic for my essay: Nuclear Energy
Ever since the first industrial revolution, humanity has delved into different ways of power generation. Rapid technology advancements in the past century have indicated an increasing demand for energy reserves and an urge for more effective ways to generate electricity. To date, different methods of power generation have been explored, ranging from coal burning to the use of solar energy. This has soon raised an ongoing debate on which method is the best for generating power, with nuclear energy being the leading candidate. This essay will discuss the impact that nuclear energy has had on the energy sector, the wars that made it successful, and the expandable development of nuclear energy.
The invention of nuclear energy has permanently changed the energy sector for its enhanced cleanliness and sustainability over the traditionally used fossil fuel. Unlike nuclear energy, generating energy via the combustion of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas creates carbon dioxide as a by-product (nei.org, 2019). Whilst 65% of greenhouse gas consists of carbon dioxide, most of it was a direct product of the burning of fossil fuels. On the contrary, nuclear energy generates 8000 times more energy than fossil fuel (Parker, 2019) by effectively utilizing the energy from uranium undergoing a chain reaction to convert water into steam and turning the turbine (Brain,2018). Nuclear energy also has better longevity than fossil fuels. It is estimated that humans only have 115 years of oil reserve (Ritchie, 2017) but a stock of uranium could last for 230 years. Not to mention the unidentified uranium embedded in the ocean that could likely provide a 60,000-year supply (Fetter, 2019). For the aforementioned reasons, nuclear energy not only resolved the pollution problem but also provided a seemingly limitless energy supply for the development of humanity in the foreseeable future.
The invention of nuclear energy owes its success to the war arms race and the urgency to comfort public fear. In view of the two World Wars, different countries actively participated in the invention of the newest and strongest armament to fight against opposite states and protect their sovereignty. The eventual discovery of neutrons by James Chadwick in 1932 (phy.org, 2012) led to research on the potential of nuclear radioactivity. Hence, the self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (Esposite, 2008) that could lead to an enormous release of energy was discovered. Between 1939 and 1945, developments were aimed at weaponizing nuclear technology, which led to the birth of the atomic bomb. In 1945, the US detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and military personnel (atomicarchive.com, n.d.), and putting WWII to an end. The fatality of atomic bombs soon raised public concerns, forcing the government to neutralize the polarizing opinions towards the use of nuclear technology. In 1953, a speech named “Atoms for Peace” was then delivered by US President Eisenhower in an attempt to enlighten the American public on the risks and hopes of a nuclear future (Atoms for Peace, n.d.). Commercializing nuclear energy that serves the public demonstrates the positive use of nuclear technology. Since then, the arms race and public fear have curated a condition for nuclear energy to thrive.
Nuclear energy has a major edge over other renewable energy resources due to its longer lifespan and more expandable usage. Typical nuclear energy facilities have a lifespan of 30-40 years (Speights, 2019), with repairs and upgrades, that number extends to around 60 years. Since other energy sources such as wind power, biomass heat, and solar water heat could only last for about 10 to 30 years (nrel.org, n.d.), nuclear energy is undoubtedly the better contender in the power generation industry. Besides, the nuclear energy sector could further expand. Currently, 10.3% of electricity is generated by nuclear power (IEA, 2019), with non-renewable power still dominating the market. In fact, only 30 countries in the world are equipped with nuclear energy (Wang, 2019). More extensive usage of clean and sustainable nuclear energy is largely viable. As seen, the long lifespan and highly expandable potential of nuclear energy offer a revolutionary change to the high-energy-demanding civilization.
All in all, nuclear energy is a game-changer in the power generation industry. From the atomic bomb to commercialized nuclear plants, history has helped shape the development of this crucial invention. It brings new possibilities to the energy sector by eliminating air pollution while multiplying the energy output. Apprehension about the energy crisis in the coming decades would also be relieved. Meanwhile, the long lifespan and expandable usage of nuclear energy will continue to contribute to the world, improving the lives of mankind one step at a time.
List of References:
- EPA (2017). Global greenhouse gas emissions. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
- Steve Fetter (26 January 2019). How long will the world’s uranium supplies last? Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-will-global-uranium-deposits-last/
- Hannah Ritchie (8 August 2017). Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/how-long-before-we-run-out-of-fossil-fuels
- Nei.org (2019). What is nuclear energy? Retrieved from https://www.nei.org/fundamentals
- Marshall Brain (2018) How does nuclear power work? Retrieved from https://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm
- William Parker (2019). Nuclear Power. Retrieved from https://www.iop.org/activity/groups/subject/env/prize/file_52570.pdf
- Phys.org (15 June 2012). 80 years since the discovery of the neutron. Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2012-06-years-discovery-neutron.html
- S. Esposito and O. Pisanti (2008) A Nuclear Pile: The Retrieval Of Novel Documents. Page 1
- atomicarchive.com. (n.d) The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Retrieved from http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml
- Atom for Peace. (n.d) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atoms_for_Peace
- Trevor Speights (28 February 2019) How Nuclear Reactors Work and Lifespan. Retrieved from http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph241/speights1/
- Nrel.gov (n.d) Energy analysis, Useful Life. Retrieved from https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/tech-footprint.html
- IEA (2019). Distribution of electricity generation worldwide in 2017, by energy source. Key World Energy Statistics 2019, page 30.
- T. Wang (Jun 26, 2019) Number of operable nuclear reactor plants by country 2019
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