Nuclear Power
Friend or Foe?
Nuclear Power
Friend Or Foe?
Some of the Disasters
Chernobyl
Japan's Nuclear disaster
The Three Mile Meltdown
The Three Mile Island (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Many changes significantly made the U.S. reactor safety better.A combination of equipment malfunctions, and worker errors led to TMI-2's partial meltdown.
Pros and Cons
- nuclear power's biggest advantage is that doesn't depend on fossil fuels
- isn't affected by fluctuating oil and gas prices
- Coal and natural gas power plants emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change, With nuclear power plants, CO2 emissions are minimal.
Cons:
- mining and purifying uranium hasn't been a very clean process
- transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants poses a contamination risk
- once the fuel is gone, you can't just throw it in the trash, It's still radioactive and potentially deadly
"Almost all nuclear power plants use nuclear fission, which splits one atom into two, and is considered more dangerous."
How a Nuclear Reactor Works
- Nuclear plants produce electricity by boiling water into steam.
- This steam then turns turbines to produce electricity
- Nuclear power plants obtain the heat needed to produce steam through a physical process
- the process, called fission, entails the splitting of atoms of uranium in a nuclear reactor
Workers from the Japan Nuclear Disaster
"When I heard the diseal generators were lost, I couldn't square that with reality I was stunned."
"I was told 3 of my family were missing, I felt cold like my blood was being drained, I couldn't accept that the tsunami might have killed them. I started searching every where."
"To see those kinds of numbers where unthinkable, and it wasn't just in the reactors it was in places like the office."
"We got our masks and put them by our feet, just in case we had to escape."
A Child that was affected by the radiation from Chernobyl
Facts about Chernobyl
- Chernobyl accident is equivalent to 500 nuclear bombs used in Hiroshima in 1945
- The releases contaminated an estimated 17 million people to some degree
- 143,000 people have been evacuated from contaminated areas of Ukraine
- Cases of leucosis and thyroid cancer exceed average by 2 and 5 times correspondingly among the Chernobyl victims
"The process of getting all of the materials to build a nuclear plant created environmental pollution, and nuclear waste is an issue."
A fish that was effected by Japans nuclear explosion
Citations
Brain, Marshall, and Robert Lamb. "Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
"Chernobyl Facts." Http://www.chernobyl.com.ua/ChernobylFacts.htm. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Chernobyl Reactor #4. Digital image. Http://graphics8.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2014/04/02/chernobyl/assets/images/reactor-640.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
Fish Effected by Nuclear Disasters. Digital image. Https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cCTlMLduaT4/maxresdefault.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
"How a Nuclear Reactor Works." Http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/How-Nuclear-Reactors-Work. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Japan Nuclear Disaster. Digital image. Http://www.bimbingan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Antisipasi-Terjadinya-Tsunami.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
Japan's and China's Smog. Digital image. Http://japandailypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/china-smog11-415x260.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
MailOnline, Ellie Zolfagharifard for. "A Drone's-eye View of CHERNOBYL." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
A Mutated Child from Chernobyl. Digital image. Http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q82B9RIJGT4/TnN3U-v9wBI/AAAAAAAAAMw/8Faw05YXbgw/s1600/Chernobyl%2B5%2BBehal.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Nuclear Fission Diagram. Digital image. Https://www.e-education.psu.edu/drupal6/files/eme444/images/Fission.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Nuclear Power Plant. Digital image. Https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/SA-nuclear-power-460x250.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
Nuclear Reactor Image. Digital image. Http://nuclear-energy.net/media/operation-nuclear-power-plant/pressurized-water-nuclear-reactor.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Radioactive Sign. Digital image. Http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z452/carriere777/Nuclair.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
"30 Facts about Nuclear Power." Http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-nuclear-energy-facts.php. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Three Mile Island Reactor Melt down. Digital image. Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/3MileIsland.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.