Nuclear Power is a clean and remarkably efficient way of boiling water (the steam formed turn turbines) to produce electricity. Currently, this scaled-up, over-complicated kettle powers 20% of the United Kingdom. One Kilogram of Uranium can generate the same amount of power that it would take 126 gallons of oil, 1 ton of coal or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas to generate. Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear fuel does not release large quantities of harmful emissions into our atmosphere. It’s cheaper, it’s convenient, it’s efficient, what’s not to love?
Quite a lot, actually. Nuclear energy has many advantages and equally many disadvantages. Nuclear power stations produce radioactive waste, some of which is very difficult to deal with. After a few decades, the nuclear power station will have ‘expired’ so to speak. The power station itself will have to be disposed of and the waste it generates also has to be safely dealt with. For some high-level waste, it takes a whole millennium to reach a state where it is safe again. And the negatives don’t stop there. The area around the waste disposal site will also be uninhabitable until the nuclear waste is safe.
They talk about how it’s a safe alternative to fossil fuels, is it safer for the environment as well or is it just shifting the problem elsewhere? Whereas before we were trying to stop carbon emissions boiling the planet we live on, will our future be trying to stop nuclear energy from toxifying the ground we walk on?
A serious accident is all it takes for a major disaster. Chernobyl. Hiroshima. These events alone should deter us from using nuclear energy no matter what the benefits the experts claim there to be. We are playing with fire and it’s only a matter of time before it gets out of control. Like a wildfire scorching forests to the ground, nuclear energy could eradicate life for a millennium. That’s the worst case scenario, the best case, we all get genetic mutations from the energy altering our genes. Is this what we really want? With the benefits it brings, is it worth it compared to the risks?
We’re not the only ones who live on this planet. Billions of animals that are all brilliant and intelligent. If something goes wrong, we don’t only affect ourselves, we affect those who were oblivious to our dabbling in nuclear energy, yet they will also pay the same price as us. We know the risks involved. We know what the consequences are. We are all guilty of allowing this to continue. There is always another way. 75 years and the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still claiming lives to this day.
The idea of using nuclear power should be discontinued. The evidence of past tragedies speak for themselves. Nuclear energy is a ticking time bomb waiting to cause an unforgivable catastrophe, one which we will all be responsible for.
It’s up to you, are you for this convenient and efficient power source that can wipe out life for potentially a millennium with just one accident? Or are you against this, deadly power which has been sugar-coated as a ‘clean’, ‘safe’ alternative to fossil fuels? The choice is yours.
