Recently, for Current Affairs my class held a debate on whether nuclear energy should or should not be used in the future. In this blog post, I would like to express my opinion on this issue.
Personally, I feel that nuclear energy can be used, but countries should not be dependent on it. There are several reasons why I feel this way. Firstly, fossil fuels are running out. Sooner or later, there is going to be no more petrol or coal for human's to burn. When this occurs, people will have to look to different sources of energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear energy. Out of these, nuclear energy is by far the most efficient. It produces much more energy than any other type, and it will be able to quickly meet the needs of the people.
Secondly, nuclear energy does not have the disadvantage of producing greenhouse gases. Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear plants are completely free of greenhouse gases, and thus will not cause global warming. I think that this is quite a large advantage of nuclear energy, considering how serious the problem of global warming is becoming in the world today.
However, there are also several issues with nuclear energy that should be pointed out. The most obvious point would be: What happens if something goes wrong? A nuclear disaster is unlike any other. Firstly, it poses a dire risk to anyone exposed to the radiation. Radiation causes many health problems like cancer. Secondly, radiation is impossible to clean up. Unlike an oil spill, radiation cannot be removed, and it tends to linger in an area for a long time. The area around Chernobyl is still dangerous, even decades after the disaster. Third would be the impact on wildlife. Radiation could completely destroy the habitats of many wild animals. Last of all would be the cost. Nuclear plants are not cheap, and in the event that something goes wrong, there are huge losses incurred.
A second point would be that nuclear energy is not entirely "clean". Nuclear waste is extremely toxic and must be disposed of carefully. However, disposing of nuclear waste safely is costly, and if the nuclear waste is not sealed away properly, it can pollute water supplies, the soil and eventually harm the health of humans, animals and plants.
That said, nuclear technology has come a long way since Chernobyl decades ago, and there are now safer procedures and measures put into place to ensure that nuclear plants are safe. An example of a country that has successfully used nuclear energy would be France, with more than 10 nuclear plants. Training of employees has also improved greatly, minimising human error.
Nuclear technology has many good and bad points, but I feel that it will become a necessity in the near future, due to its high efficiency. Countries should still be careful not to be overly dependent on it, in the event that something really does go wrong. Proper safety measures should also be put into place, and citizens should be educated on what to do in the event of a nuclear disaster.
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2 comments:
Hi Kenneth,
I think that this issue is really very big and has an impact on our future generations. In my opinion, I think that whether nuclear energy will continue to be used depends on the mindset of the government. Simply speaking, whether the government wants to put environmental issues and sustainability of energy, or the safety of the citizens and the cost, as priority? Personally, I feel that it is still alright to use nuclear energy as long as it can be relatively safe. One way this can be done is by allocating a large area of land for nuclear plants so that even when radiation happens, it will not reach residential areas and the harmful effects will hence be minimised. However, this can only work in countries with abundant land, so land-scarce countries should try to promote their R&D sector to find alternative sources of energy or by implementing other methods to keep nuclear plants safe. Therefore, nuclear energy minus all the risks of radiation would be a perfect solution to a sustainable source of energy, but in reality, governments and organisations have to practice extreme caution when making this important decision.
Nathanael
Hi Kenneth,
In my opinion, I do agree with you about how nuclear energy may be beneficial and how far it has truly progressed. However, I feel that nuclear energy should not be the way to go in the future. Instead, I feel that renewable energy should be the way to go, such as solar as well as wind energy. Firstly, these energies are renewable, and they do not harm the environment, as compared to that of nuclear energy and can always be found. Next, they do not affect the environment should there be accidents, as compared to nuclear energy, such as the incident at Furoshima. Last but not least, for nuclear energy, there are still risks as no one can expect a natural disaster such as that of Furoshima.
All in all, I feel that nuclear energy should not be the way to go.
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