Impacts+G


 * Impacts of Technology **


 * Environmental: **

[[image:nuclear10b.jpg width="500" height="498" align="right"]]there is a wide variation of environmental impacts associated with power generation technologies. Nuclear power
====plants do not emit carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, or nitrogen dioxide. However, fossil fuel emissions are associated with the uranium mining and uranium enrichment process as well as the transport of the uranium fuel to the nuclear ‍‍‍‍‍‍plant. ‍‍‍‍‍‍====

**Water Resource Use**
====Nuclear power plants use large quantities of water for steam production and for cooling. When nuclear power plants remove water from a lake or river for steam production and cooling, fish and other aquatic life can be ‍‍‍‍‍‍affected. ‍‍‍‍‍‍====

**Radioactive Waste Generation**
====Every 18 to 24 months, nuclear power plants must shut down to remove and replace the "spent" uranium fuel. This spent fuel has released most of its energy as a result of the fission process and has become radioactive waste. All of the nuclear power plants in the United States together produce about 2,000 metric tons per year of radioactive waste. Currently, the radioactive waste is stored at the nuclear plants at which it is generated, either in steel-lined, concrete vaults filled with water or in above-ground steel or steel-reinforced concrete containers with steel inner ‍‍‍‍‍‍canisters ‍‍‍‍‍‍==== ([]).

**‍‍‍‍‍‍Equipments Use in Nuclear Plant**
====In addition to the fuel waste, much of the equipment in the nuclear power plants becomes contaminated with radiation and will become radioactive waste after the plant is closed. These wastes will remain radioactive for many thousands of years. ‍‍‍‍‍‍====

**‍‍‍‍‍‍Land Resource Use**
====The construction of nuclear power plants can destroy natural habitat for animals and plants or contaminate local land with toxic by-products. For example, the storage of radioactive waste may preclude any future re-use of these contaminated lands. ‍‍‍‍‍‍====

** ‍‍‍‍‍‍Health ‍‍‍‍‍‍: **
====Nuclear power is a highly sought after method of producing of electricity. Even though it has many benefits, nuclear power also has negative effects which affect public health. There are many types of radiation which rank from the highest (Gamma rays) to the lowest (Extremely low-frequency radiation-ELF). Ionizing radiation as opposed to non ionizing can be extremely dangerous. “Ionizing radiation is high-frequency radiation that has enough energy to remove an electron from (ionize) an atom or molecule” (American Cancer Society, 2010). This type of radiation presents a health risk to the public because it has enough energy to damage the DNA in cells, which it may lead to cancer. Radiation can damage cells can developed in to cancers long term. An example of Ionizing radiation is the high-energy UV rays. “Non-ionizing radiation is low-frequency radiation that does not have enough energy to remove electrons or directly damage DNA” (American Cancer Society, 2010). Examples of non-ionizing radiation could be microwaves, radio waves, and low-energy UV rays. We are and always will be exposed to radiation does not matter how big or small the levels of energy.====

The Chernobyl accident of 1986 is great illustration of the danger that nuclear power presents to the public health. The Chernobyl accident happened by an error in the design of the plant, which caused an explosion due to the high levels of radiation. Many emergency workers, children, and clean-up workers were severely wounded and killed. After the Chernobyl accident, many diseases started to grow such as leukemia and thyroid cancer. “Leukemia, a malignancy arising from the bone marrow, is strongly associated with radiation exposure because of the sensitivity of the bone marrow to the carcinogenic effects of external radiation” (National Cancer Institute, n.d.). Scientist has shown that leukemia is one of the earliest cancers that prove an increase in radiation exposure. Also, scientists have found around 270,000 cases of cancer, which 93,000 of those are fatal. Even though, there has been many cases and chronic disease found due to the radiation exposure of Chernobyl accident, many people have died. According to scientist, in the last 15 years, 60,000 have died and the total estimated deaths could be another 140,000. For that reason, nuclear power has always represented a negative impact to the public health.

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Energy Source:


In 1946, after the war, the U.S Army sent nuclear reactors to St. Louis for civilian use in Brainerd Cancer Hospital. During this era the fear of the nuclear power being used as a weapon led to treaties being signed by local states and countries that had access to it. The Non Proliferation Treaty was signed by the United Kingdom, U.S, and Soviet Union and 59 other countries also agreed to sign the treaty. States that did not have access to nuclear weapon material also signed the treaty stating that they would not assist, develop, or take any part in the use of nuclear power for weapons. The purpose of the treaty along with other treaties reinforcing nuclear peace was that nuclear power be used for the sole purpose of energy most notably Electricity and by no means as a source for weapons of mass destruction. The only countries that have not signed are Israel, India, and Pakistan. The International Atomic Energy Agency was introduced to oversee compliance and continued development for "peaceful atoms", the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes (Nobelprize.org,2011).

One uranium fuel pellet, which weighs about 7 grams, provides as much energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal, or 149 gallons of oil (Burgess, 2011).

As a result, today we have over 440 nuclear power plants generating electricity around the world. There are 104 of the nuclear power plants are in the U.S. and about 20% of U.S electricity comes from nuclear energy. France has more than 80% of their electricity generated from nuclear energy with 58 nuclear power plants.Japan has 54 nuclear power plants that accounts for about 50% of their electricity. Nuclear energy accounts for about 14% of the world’s electricity (World Nuclear Association, 2011).

In 2007, 2.6 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity came from nuclear energy, it is expected that 4.5 trillion kilowatt-hours will be used by 2035 as the price of fossil fuels rises and the concern continues to grow for the use of fossil fuels (U.S.EIA, 2010). India, which is still a developing nation would like to have 25 percent of its electricity produced by nuclear energy because it is cost efficient and a clean source of energy (Burgess, 2011).



Nuclear power plants provide the lowest cost for base load electricity, around 2.14 cents per kilowatt-hour covers all the cost associated with using nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is a reliable source because uranium does not unexpectedly or dramatically change in price over time, it relieves some of the dependence on foreign suppliers,and it is not affected by the weather and climate. The world now uses a mix of energy sources to meet the electricity demands of the growing population. The U.S Department of Energy has predicted that the U.S alone will need estimated 24% more electricity by 2035. New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Vermont use more nuclear energy to generate electricity than the other sources in the energy mix. (Nuclear Energy Institute, 2011).

Nuclear power as an energy source will continue to generate electricity around the world despite the controversies. It is reported that as of January 2011 there are 65 new nuclear power plants under construction (ENS, 2011). It is estimated that by 2050 nuclear energy could become the largest source of electricity in the world – hitting a high of about 25% of the total electricity generated ( Nuclear Energy Institute, 2011).




 * Benefits and Drawbacks Table **


 * =  ||= ====**BENEFITS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY**==== ||= ====**DRAWBACKS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY**==== ||
 * = ====**Health:**==== ||= No air polution ||= Radiation Exposure ||
 * = ====**Energy:**==== ||= Inexpensive Fuel
 * same costs as coal ||= High capital costs for building nuclear power plants
 * 2008 Progress Energy estimated reactors for Turkey Point, South Fl plant at 17 billion -8,000 per KW installed ||
 * =  ||= Concentrated energy source
 * abundance of energy created with small amounts of uranium ||= Length of time needed to build nuclear power plants
 * 7-12 years at least ||
 * =  ||= Less dependency on foreign imports
 * oil has high foreign dependency =price fluctuation ||= Proliferation
 * South Korea seeking to opt out of NPT ||
 * || Reliable retrieval of uranium
 * found domestically and internationally ||  ||
 * = ====**Environmental:**==== ||= ====Low Carbon Dioxide Emission (CO2)==== ||= ====Waste Management & Enrichment of Uranium for Nuclear Weapons==== ||

**Transition statement**: The next page will introduce the problem and solution of nuclear power.

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