e United Statesand they produce one-fifth of the nations electricity. Nuclear energy hasbeen proven to be the cheapest, safest, cleanest and probably the mostefficient source of energy.(ref. 7)Nuclear power plants do not use as much fuel as the plants burning coalandoil. One ton of uranium produces more energy than several million tons ofcoal and plutonium can produce much more energy than uranium.(ref. 12)Also the burning of coal and oil pollute our air and the last thing weneed is more pollution to worsen the greenhouse effect. Nuclear power plants cannot contaminate the environment because they donot release any type of pollution.(ref. 2) Plutonium can also be recycledby using a enrichment process. This will produce even more energy. Coaland oil can not be recycled. Whatis left by their uses is what has been contaminating our atmosphere sincethe 1800's. You might ask how exactly is plutonium converted into an energy source?Well it is obviously quite complicated to explain. Basically, power comesfrom the fission process of an atom of the element and produces over tenmillion times the energy produced by an atom of carbon from coal. Onekilogram of plutonium consumed for three years in a reactor can produceheat to give ten million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This amount isenough to power over one-thousand Australian households.(ref. 7) Presented with this information, it is only common sense that we shouldnot depend upon fossil fuels to take us into the 21st century. It isobvious that our future lies in the hands of nuclear reactors and the useof plutonium.The second major use for plutonium is for space exploration with itsability topower nuclear propulsion. Nuclear electric propulsion is using energy fromplutonium to power space vehicles.(ref. 3) One of the major goals of NASAspace program is to, one day, get to Mars, and it looks like the only wayit is going to happen in our current fiscal condition, is if we useplutonium, instead ...
