Recently Japan was hit by a massive earthquake that crippled it. The earthquake had impacted Japan socially, economically, environmentally and politically. The earthquake damaged Japan's power supply which led to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant meltdown due to powerless cooling system.
Discuss the use of nuclear power as a resource management issue. Is the use of nuclear energy sustainable? What are some better alternatives?
Response must be at the least 100 words. You may respond to another classmates message or discuss about another topic related to Japan's earthquake.
The earthquake that hit Japan was devastating to both the Japanese people and the environment. If the reactor hadn't been shut down the problem could have gone from bad to worse. Nuclear power itself is a highly sustainable source of energy that is much better than both natural gas and coal. In fact using nuclear energy around the world can help reduce carbon emissions everywhere. The water used to power both the boiling water and pressurized water reactors is used continuously making it the most sustainable energy source out there today. The only drawback to nuclear energy is the high levels of radiation that, in the event of a disaster or mishap, can leak out and have disastrous effects on the people and the environment in the surrounding area. Despite this minor flaw, nuclear energy is the best option out there. We have been using natural gas and coal for decades now and the effect it has had on the earth is known to all.
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ReplyDeleteNuclear reactors, without a doubt do produce fewer carbon emissions than coal and natural gas. When considering the sustainability of nuclear energy, two factors must come into consideration, both economic and environmental factors. The main economic features of existing nuclear power plants are their low and stable costs of production, as well as very low fuel costs. Nuclear energy is considered to be good for the environment since nuclear energy uses the application of uranium, which permits the efficient use of natural resources and nuclear energy is nearly a source of carbon-free source. Therefore, the use of nuclear energy helps reduce carbon emissions throughout the world. I personally think that there really is no better alternative than nuclear energy, although it may cause little harm to the environment, it appears to be the best method also considering the fact that it is “affordable”. However, when it comes to Japan, their engineers built a nuclear reactor which was earthquake resistance, and they passed the test. It is said that during the earthquake, they automatically shutdown the reactor, without having a backup power-tool to cool down the fuel. Basically, Japans main nuclear reactor “crisis” arises from this problem, according to some environmentalists.
ReplyDeleteNuclear energy is absolutely unsustainable, however considering the fact that it produces less carbon emissions than other energy such as coal and natural, it is more environment friendly. The reason for their popularity is their low maintenance cost which in turn means energy is produced at a lower cost than other energy sources. While some might argue that uranium may be very dangerous and used in extremely harmful ways, it is important to note that other than producing energy it is not used for any other purpose which would otherwise make it a useless element on the earth's surface. Why not make use of it? In addition to that, the amount of carbon it emits is negligible especially in comparison to the levels emitted by coal fired power stations and other ones. This means it plays a zero percent role in its contribution to global warming. One should be able to clearly realize that in a fast paced world with growing technology that affects and pollutes the environment such an energy source should be applauded for its efficiency and its no contribution to the world leading disaster global warming.
ReplyDeleteWhen we look at nuclear power itself, it is a highly sustainable source of energy as it does not compromise the man’s hunger for fuel and energy.
ReplyDeleteComparing nuclear energy and conventional methods of generating electricity, nuclear generates million times more energy along side hydro and wind energy. Therefore, a larger amount of electricity can be generated.
The biggest advantage in building nuclear reactor/power plant, is that there are no emission of greenhouse gases during this process. The gases generated in the conventional methods are a major threat to the environment in this era being the major cause of global warming.
Today’s nuclear reactors make use of Uranium as fuel. Fission reaction of a small amount of uranium generates large amount of energy. Trying to keep things in perspective, 1 gram of Uranium produces about 3 million times as much energy as a gram of coal. In other words, a gram of Uranium releases about 23 megawatt hours of heat, that means you would need 3 tons of coal to generate the same amount. This makes Uranium a very portable and tradeable commodity making it inexpensive and cheaper transportation costs. The high reserves of uranium found on Earth are expected to last for another 100 years.
With the soaring oil prices due to the crises in the rich oil producing countries, Nuclear energy looks like a more feasible option.
Nuclear energy is the world's largest source of emission free energy. The use of Nuclear power plants in place of other energy sources help to keep the air clean. Nuclear energy is carbon free electricity generation source. Many countries are now expressing a renewed interest in nuclear energy. But when considering the sustainability of nuclear energy you have to consider three factor in which it could or could not affect which are economic, environmental, and social. Economically, power plants are very competitive; they improve maintenance and operation and raised the prices in fossil fuels as well as low and stable costs of production. In other words, economically the power plants are helping a great deal. Environmentally, nuclear energy is nearly carbon free, and other than permitting a efficient use of natural resources, uranium would be rendered useless to the environment. However, there are public concerns the potential environmental impact that of the nuclear energy focuses on nuclear safety and radioactive waste management. Socially, it provides jobs for highly trained individual and benefits other field such as medicine, instrumentation, and control systems.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, what occurred in japan was a unfortunate, however, there are pros and cons to nuclear power plants but mainly pros. Thus, so the situation in Japan does not re-occur we should take more safety percussions.
Without a doubt, in comparison to other means of producing electricity nuclear power is the most efficient and sustainable method of electricity production. The three most widely used methods of producing electricity are by means of fossil fuels, hydroelectricity and nuclear power. The electricity production from fossil fuel is both most unsustainable and environmentally destructive. The first reason for this is that because of the continuous emission of greenhouse gasses, the ozone layer is being depleted and as a result is responsible for global warming. The second reason is the low efficiency; the quantity of coal and oil that is use to produce given amount of energy. According to the statistics 1kg (kilogram) of coal produces 3KWH (kilo watt hour) of energy and 1kg of oil produces only 4KWH of total energy. In addition, Hydroelectricity is also an inefficient mean of producing energy and can cause ecological changes and health effects. Nuclear power on the other hand, is widely acceptable and is the healthiest way of producing energy. In a nuclear power plant boiling water reactors and nuclear fuel produces electricity by boiling water and spinning the turbines with the steam produced. The steam is then cooled down and condensed back to into water. The nuclear fuel which is used in the process is uranium oxide. In a nuclear power plant there is zero emission of toxic gasses unlike fossil fuel that contaminates the environment. It is also the most efficient in a sense that from 1kg (kilogram) of uranium 50,000 KWH (kilo watt hour) of electricity can be produced. In the construction of a nuclear power plant, high security measures are taken to avoid any accident. It is technically impossible to build a plant with 100% security. The fukushima daiichi nuclear plant meltdown was due to the environmental disaster which can occur throughout the world. It does not mean that one should start questioning the use of nuclear power production.
ReplyDeleteWritten by Adam Khan
In literal sense nuclear energy is sustainable because it doesn’t emit as much carbon as its other counterparts such as coal and other non-renewable sources of energy. But when we think about it very careful we must see how this effects the environment and people, sure it’s cheap and doesn’t emit enough carbon but it is EXTREMELY dangerous due to the radiation it emits.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion though nuclear energy is not sustainable because it is a dangerous source of energy, when something goes wrong it can cause great devastation to the environment and all living organisms. The meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan can easily be compared to the Chernobyl disaster that occurred on 26 April 1986 in Ukraine. When the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded large quantities of radioactive substances contaminated the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western Russia and Europe. This disaster crippled the economy and the people so dreadfully that it caused 985,000 deaths to occur between 1986 and 2004 as a result of radioactive contamination.
Better alternatives for energy in this area of Japan is hydropower because it is right next to the ocean and the water can easily be harnessed to generate electricity without having the horrendous side effects of nuclear energy. Another way is for the government to increase funds for wind power because Japan has tremendous offshore wind energy potential.
In conclusion using nuclear energy has it’s pros and cons. But when thinking logically and taking every aspect to consideration, sure it makes economic sense: fuel costs are low, and there are no CO2 emissions to attract extra charges. Nuclear energy though is dangerous and should not be toyed with and used due to the multiple disasters it has caused and its effects to health.
Yes, Nuclear energy is a sustainable source. Do to the fact that nuclear energy creates much more than wind and hydro energy combined. Nuclear power can come from the fission of uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. In 1993 there were 109 licensed power reactors in the U.S. and about 400 in the world. They generated about 20 percent of the U.S. Also, a main advantage of nuclear energy is that it doesn't put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, every source of energy has advantages and disadvantages which we can all argue about. Nuclear energy is a dangerous energy source in fact.
ReplyDeleteMohamad Zeyara
In my opinion nuclear energy is no more a renewable source of energy than resources such as oil and gas as it relies on a finite source which is most certainly not a renewable fuel supply, uranium. Current Canadian Uranium reserves have estimated the uranium to be only sufficient for forty years at the current consumption rates. As many have mentioned above, Greenhouse gas emissions are not an issue with nuclear energy, however substantial emissions would be continued to be emitted as Uranium mining operations are being conducted. Many studies for the Pembina Institute have been issues and it is clear that nuclear energy is not a reliable form of energy as GHG emissions rise at each stage of the nuclear energy cycle. Once a power plant is built there are already emissions being released...Release of GHG as mentioned before also occurs as a result of mill tailings, management activities and the whole uranium milling process. Nuclear energy also brings about a set of risks, such as the high cost and the uncertainty involved in handling and managing radioactive wastes. This is a primitive concern today as radioactive wastes in Japan have been leaked. This in turn has a huge effect on the populous as there is concern for food and water supplies . All in all it is evident that nuclear energy is most certainly not a sustainable energy source and is subjected to many hazardous results which affect this generation and leaves behind many environmental and health risks.
ReplyDelete- Rayan Dali
BTW, THIS IS RAYAN'S.. Her computer wont allow her to post!
Good posts everybody, besides one person suggesting hydro power, I have not seen many alternatives being suggested
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