One of the largest differences in Obama’s and McCain’s energy plans is their views on nuclear power. McCain is all for more nuclear power while Obama is against it. I believe that the general fear of nuclear power comes from ignorance on the issue. Let us examine nuclear power and how it effects the environment.
The largest environmental advantage nuclear power how it's low impact the environment. While conventional fossil fuels release ton of CO2 and other compounds into the atmosphere, nuclear power only releases excess heat in the form of steam. Concerns on nuclear power stem from handling and disposal methods. A research study done by MIT in 2003 suggest that nuclear power is a great candidate as a power sores to reduce CO2 emissions and will be used heavily in the next 50 years.
I believe nuclear powers main drawback is the lack of long term nuclear waste storage facilities. Much of the waste emitted from plants will stay radioactive for thousands of years and we do not currently have a facility to store this waste. One proposed option is to create breeder reactors which would take nuclear waste and help convert it into a form of waste that is less dangerous. Another suggested method of waste disposal is theSubductive Waste Disposal Method. In this method waste is placed underground and is carried deeper underground by tectonic plate movement. All current plans have their own pros and cons, but something does need to be done about current waste storage.
While nuclear power is a great solution, stricter controls on waste must be put into place. Much more clean energy could be put into place if the government started an even more heavily regulated plan to control nuclear energy and its byproducts.
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3 comments:
I am glad you did a blog on nuclear because I am one of those people who are hesitant about nuclear energy. I have taken an environmental science course so I do know some information but I have forgotten a lot in the years since I took it. One of the other disadvantages I remember learning about besides the waste is how dangerous it can be if something goes wrong at a nuclear plant. When Chernobyl happened in 1986 more than half of the world had an increase in radiation in their body because of it. I can't even imagine the damaging effects it had on Ukraine, especially the city of Chernobyl and others around it. I suppose that stricter laws would help this but it still seems dangerous, especially since our laws don't effect other countries. I also find the waste issue extremely disheartening. Even the method you talked about where you bury it underground seems like we are trying to forget about an important issue (our of sight out of mind) and wait for the future effects to be dealt with by another generation. Of course I am not well informed and there may not be negative effects in the future, but that just seems unlikely to me. I also wonder why all those power plants were shut down if it wasn't for an important reason.
Seeing that you are an environmentally consciouses person, it does make me feel better about nuclear though.
I appreciate the education on Nuclear energy. I've always had some fears when it comes to Nuclear energy and they were based more on initial gut reaction rather than a real understanding of the subject. I think I'm probably not alone in that perspective. After reading your blog and some other information, I have to say that I still have significant reservations about the use of nuclear power. As Laurel mentioned in her comments, I believe safety remains an issue. But what I'm most concerned about is the nuclear waste. I have a hard time calling nuclear energy environmentally friendly when it leaves behind waste that is radioactive for thousands of years. Even if it doesn't emit harmful gasses, I think it's clearly a potential problem for the environment to bury the waste, no matter how safe we think it is. So the waste storage issue definitely needs to be resolved in my opinion, BEFORE we move ahead with increasing our reliance on nuclear energy. The McCain energy plan of course does not want to wait until these issues are resolved, but instead places a big emphasis on building a significant amount of new nuclear power plants immediately.
Laurel, I very much agree that nuclear energy has large drawbacks. It can be argued that the Chernobyl disaster was caused by poor design and poor operation. The human factor in nuclear reactors need to be very quality for nuclear to be a viable power. Also, waste disposal techniques should be implemented before we press on. I believe that nuclear power could be a strong power source if we plan ahead for the future now.
energy4tomorrow, That initial gut feeling does seem to get a lot of people, and it honestly should. McCain's views of quickly using new nuclear technology is risky without developing new waste disposal techniques. I hope when this issue comes up for the new president they handle it responsibly.
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