Nuclear Power

Most people think that nuclear power is dangerous and should not exist. Well, I’m here to prove that wrong. Nuclear power is more efficient than coal power plants and other types of power. Nuclear power also harms the environment less than coal-powered plants.

Nuclear-powered plants are more efficient because they do not need sunlight, wind, or water to power it. Second, they are more efficient than coal-powered power plants because they provide energy more days in a year than coal-powered power. Nuclear power plants work for 336 days a year, but other forms of energy only work for about or less than half the time. According to Richard Rhodes, an American writer and journalist, wind power only provides power for 127 days a year, and hydroelectricity for 138 days (Rhodes). The amount of electricity the two renewable powers are producing is not functioning full time, since the climate affects the two power sources, so it does not meet the expectations of the demands for power. This shows that nuclear power is more reliable and efficient than other power sources. Another reason why it is more efficient is that nuclear power plants are one and a half to two times more efficient than coal-fired power plants and natural gas power plants and the generation capacity of nuclear power is about 93 percent, while the capacity factor of coal power plants is about 48 percent (Rhodes). This means that nuclear power plants are generating maximum power for 93 percent of a year, and coal power plants are only generating 45 percent of the time. The research above shows that nuclear power is more efficient.

Nuclear power plants do not harm the environment because uranium is used in the nuclear reactor through a process called nuclear fission, where it releases a lot of energy. According to Mara Hvistendahl, an American writer, most of the nuclear reactors are pressurized water reactors, which is when they take the energy released in nuclear fission to boil water, the steam turns a turbine, and then the steam is condensed back to water by using water from water sources near it, then it can be boiled again. Functioning nuclear reactors do not emit greenhouse gases, since nuclear reactors use uranium as fuel. What this shows is that since nuclear power uses uranium as fuel instead of burning something such as coal or natural gas, nuclear power does not cause pollution. Rhodes also claims that other energy sources release more radiation into the environment than nuclear power fuel. Furthermore, coal releases more radiation than uranium, which is a radioactive element, because coal contains the elements uranium, thorium, radium, and radon in it when it is mined. After it is sent to a coal combustion plant and burned, coal turns into fly ash, which becomes ten times more radioactive than it was before (Hvistendahl). The research above shows that nuclear power is better than coal-powered power plants because it does not pollute the environment.

Nuclear power is better than other power plants because it is more efficient and it does not harm the environment, unlike coal power plants. People often assume that coal power plants and other power plants are better than nuclear power plants, but the above research proves them wrong.

Therefore, the government should begin replacing traditional coal and gas power plants with nuclear power plants, because it will benefit the earth, people’s health, be more efficient, and reduce the cost to generate electricity.

References

Rhodes, Richard. “Why Nuclear Power Must Be a Part of the Energy Solution.” Yale 360. 19 July. 2018. e360.yale.edu/features/why-nuclear-power-must-be-part-of-the-energy-solution-environmentalists-climate. Accessed 27 Nov. 2021.

Hvistendahl, Mara. “Coal Ash Is More Radioactive Than Nuclear Waste” Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2007. www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/#:~:text=But%20when%20coal%20is%20burned,10%20times%20their%20original%20levels.&text=At%20one%20extreme%2C%20the%20scientists,of%20ionizing%20radiation)%20a%20year. Accessed 27 Nov. 2021.