Weighing the Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power Plants

click to enlarge

Now, more than ever, the safety of nuclear power plants is receiving increased attention and deliberations. The recent nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, as an offshoot of the magnitude-nine (9) earthquake and 15-meter wavelength tsunami that hit Japan in a single event last March, 2011, has magnified the issue, thus spurring more debates.

The incident occurred at a time when the U.S. Congress is still in the process of deliberating on the DOE’s (Department of Energy), proposal to increase the 2011 budget allocations for nuclear plant projects , from its current $ 18.5 billion to $ 54.5 billion.

Members of the House Committee have expressed concerns that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has overlooked the possibility of similar catastrophes like the combined tsunami-earthquake event that was experienced by Japan. In one of its hearings, the NRC chairman admitted that the approved designs took into considerations only the ground-shaking motions as an occurrence. They did not include measures against earthquakes at magnitude 9 or even a tsunami-earthquale as likely events.

Japan is highly recognized for its advanced technology that is even regarded as more sophisticated compared to other countries. As an earthquake–prone region, their designs have taken into consideration ground movements; but not the near-simultaneous occurrence of an earthquake and a tsunami. Said incident had led to the crippling of structural requirements and components like electric power, back-up diesel generators and oil storage tanks. Albeit designed for a tsunami catastrophe, the most that the Fukushima nuclear plant was prepared against was at six-meter wavelengths and not the 15-meter wavelengths that actually took place.

The pros and cons of nuclear power plants are essential points to consider, but some house representatives would prefer to compare these aspects against other renewable sources of energy like water, solar and wind elements.

Image Credit: Indian Point nuclear reactor, seen from across the Hudson River on US 9W by Daniel Case lifted from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Point_crop.jpg

click to enlarge

1. Abundant supply of electrical energy at lower costs - Uranium instead of oil will be used to produce electrical energy. It is said that a ton of uranium can release substantial amounts of energy once it undergoes the process of nuclear fission. By nuclear fission, the mere splitting of atomic nuclei can go into a series of chain reactions that can produce great amounts of energy to be converted into electricity.

As opposed to coal heated power plants that require millions of tons of coal or gas-fired plants using numerous barrels of high priced oil, the same amount of energy is produced by one ton of uranium.

2. Low carbon emission - Since there is no fuel-burning process involved, the amount of carbon emission released from nuclear power plants is less than a hundredth of the carbon emissions released by the fuel burning power plants.

3. Nuclear wastes can be contained and controlled - Said wastes are unlike carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions that are released in the atmosphere beyond human control and become a semi-permanent composition of the atmospheric layers. As we all know, global warming condition has been largely aggravated by carbon dioxide emissions.

4. Nuclear fuel is compact and can be easily transported- The main component of a nuclear reactor is called the “core”, which contains all the nuclear fuel that can generate heat. Each “core” contains hundreds of thousands of fuel pins that typically contain uranium oxide. As such, handling and transport require the use of fewer resources.

5. Nuclear technology entails low cost - The nuclear technology of fission is a natural phenomenon that does not require further development or research just to produce energy that can be converted into electricity. The splitting of a large nucleus brings about a chain reaction of splitting other nuclei and releasing shooting neutrons that can continuously split more atomic nuclei, thus creating energy in the process.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Fastfission