Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Environmental Science None Provided2 None Provided2 Entering the twenty-first century, six billion people inhabit the earth. A number that is expected to double in a hundred and twenty years, yet only 4% of that world population live in the United States. Even though the United States has only 4% of the population of the world, it still uses 25% of the world’s resources. Coal and oil are a major energy provider around the world, particularly in the US. Countries without these abundances have turned to nuclear energy, due to its supreme effectiveness. Nuclear energy produces more energy per unit weight than coal and oil, releases no pollutants into the atmosphere, and is less cancer causing than the burning of coal and oil. Yet nuclear power has been attacked in the US since the day that it was instituted as being a non-safe and environmentally non-friendly form of energy. Right now the United States does not have to worry about running out of fossil fuels for a long time, even though they generate 51.7% of the US’s power, and power almost all forms of modern transportation. But what happens down the road, when all of the natural resources are gone? In many countries, such as France, nuclear power is accepted and welcome. Why is this not the same way in the US? The media and all forms of entertainment have misconstrued the facts of nuclear energy. The word unsafe is synonymous with nuclear power in this country, but time has shown that there is so reason for this feeling. Americans do not hold the facts on this issue. They have the unwarranted fears of a mass and free speaking culture. Nuclear energy is safe, clean, and effective. The voice that is heard among the people is that nuclear energy is unsafe to the environment. There should be no debate about the environmental concerns of nuclear power. If there is anything that makes nuclear power unpractical it is government spending. Nuclear power is the cleanest form of power for a rapidly increasing world population. Nuclear reactors produce electricity by the fission of uranium, not the burning of fossil fuels. Nuclear power does not emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate soot, or greenhouse gases. In countries around the world nuclear energy is the largest source of emission-free electrical generation. Making one million kilowatt-hours of electricity in a natural gas power plant produces 550 tons of carbon dioxide. Producing the same amount in an oil-fired plant makes 850 tons of carbon dioxide and 1,110 in a coal plant. But generating one million kilowatt hours of electricity in a nuclear plant creates no carbon dioxide. Not only does nuclear energy not emit any pollutants, it can cause the average of pollutants in the air to decline. Since 1973, the generation of electricity by US power plants has resulted in two billion fewer tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Nuclear energy has accounted for 90% of all carbon emission reductions achieved by the electric utility industry. The fact still remains that I gram plutonium has the same energy potential as 1 ton of oil. Another major concern for the environment is what to do with the waste of a nuclear plant. It is in this area that causes people feel that nuclear power is unsafe for the environment. The fact is that the waste is radioactive for thousands of years, and if not disposed of properly could destroy the environment. In some countries, such as France, the waste from the nuclear plants is recycled making a lower amount of unusable waste. This is not done in the US, but should always be an option. The waste is stored in huge drums impermeable to any type of disaster. As a result, the nuclear energy industry is the only industry established since the industrial revolution that has managed and accounted for the majority of its waste, preventing adverse impacts on the environment. Yet what worries people is that the waste is radioactive. At a close range a person would only receive 3 millarems of radiation from one of the tanks, when the average person receives 350 millarems of radiation each year from what occurs naturally in nature. Even when the plant on Three Mile Island had a disaster in 1979, (the worst is US history) the average person that resided in that area received 2 to 10 millarems. This would also mean that nuclear power is not the cancer causing threat that the majority of the population thinks that it is. The burning of coal can be more cancerous then nuclear power, and coal burning releases more radiation then nuclear power. Not only is nuclear power more nature friendly, but more human friendly. The United States needs a non-polluting form of energy that can supply the mass of people, and they have it. Nuclear power is not an enemy and should be considered for use now and in the future. France runs on 76% nuclear power and there it is seen as the safe, environmentally friendly practice that it is. However to be as efficient as France, the US must recycle their waste products to be used in the plants, decreasing the public fear of nuclear waste. With the facts on paper, in black and white, nuclear power is the logical choice with the environment as the concern. The only thing that is released into the air from a nuclear plant is steam, and that water is not contaminated in any way. Mankind knows that he is contaminating the planet by burning fossil fuels for energy. Nuclear power is much more environmentally friendly. When all the waste is accounted for, (which it has been since the moment of institution) the nuclear industry releases no pollutants into the atmosphere. With concern for the health of the environment, nuclear power is the answer. Bibliography: INFOPEDIA. Vers. 1.5. Computer software. Future Vision Multimedia, 1995. IBM Windows 3.1, 30KB, CD-ROM. AA Word Count: 970
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