Nuclear vs. Coal Power
Today we are living in a world that is becoming increasingly more environmentally conscious, yet consuming more energy than ever. Having such high-energy demands creates many environmental issues, such as pollution, land exploitation, and the consumption of finite resources. In order to begin a true conservationalist society, solutions must be found that satisfy our growing energy needs, and reduce our impact on the environment. Right now we have many sources of energy, of which nuclear and coal are the predominant energy sources of today. Since these are the major energy sources a logical step in the solution process is discovering the pros and cons of each source.Coal energy is very inexpensive and easy to recover, and accounts for approximately 40% of electric energy produced worldwide, down from 74% in 1937. In order to derive energy coal must first be mined, then transported to another location where the coal will be burned, which results in the release of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere. Coal energy is a significant contributor to both global warming and acid rain because of its high carbon and sulfur content. There also exist the harmful effects of both mining for the coal and of
6.Fuel Reprocessing; After the fuel rod is used up, it is placed underwater and stored for up to a year, after which the rod is disassembled and some of the leftover materials are reused in the enrichment phase. 1. Mining of the ore; the danger of radiation exposures was long ignored however, the advancement of our knowledge of radioactivity has greatly reduced the risks involved with the mining process. 2.Milling; waste accounts for 99% of the resulting in great accumulations of mine tailings that have to be stored somewhere, the removal and storage of tailings still presents a problem. From these steps, one can see the basic processes required for nuclear energy to occur. The extreme amounts of tailings present a huge hurdle to overcome, researchers are currently searching for new methods to obtain the ore, which are both less wasteful and cost efficient. However, one large benefit of nuclear energy is the ease of recycling many of the nuclear core wastes. There are no greenhouse or acid rain effects caused by the use of nuclear energy and the process itself has been thoroughly developed and understood by scientists. As with coal nuclear energy also has its drawbacks. First, nuclear plants are very expensive and require large amounts of capital before building can take place. Secondly, although the waste is very compact, the waste is also highly hazardous to the environment. And lastly there is the issue of nuclear meltdown, which is detrimental to life and the environment. This last is
Some common words found in the essay are:
Coal Power, Management Radioactive, nuclear energy, Nuclear Power, energy sources, nuclear power, coal energy, coal nuclear energy, nuclear energy extremely, acid rain, sources energy, coal nuclear, mining underground, fuel rod, strip mining,
Approximate Word count = 1021
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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