Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
Introduction
In the modern society, energy is considered one of our most valuable resources. Humanity has managed to tap several sources of energy and utilize it for their daily activities. Almost everything in the society is dependent on energy; otherwise, humanity would cease to exist. The sources of energy vary from firewood, solar energy, geothermal energy and nuclear energy. The sources vary depending on the amount of energy that can be harnessed. Nuclear energy is a controversial subject when it comes to energy matters. Theorists argue that the world’s sources of energy are being depleted at such high rates, that the future will not favor humanity. Richard Watson establishes this ethical argument in his work known as Anti-Anthropocentric Ethics: he argues that any ethics should be based on the survival of humanity (Watson 245). Therefore, an inquiry that should be made in line with energy and ethics should consider the question; is modernization worth killing humanity? Nuclear power sources provide such high energy that can power industries and sustain industrial processes for longer times. The problem with the nuclear power energy is the danger it poses to the society and humanity as a whole (Ingram 37). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia is a good example relative to the effects of nuclear power and the environment. This essay seeks to analyze and evaluate the ethical issues raised by the Chernobyl nuclear plant as source of energy
Should nuclear energy be used? Throughout the article “Nowhere to go”, the author objectively reviews the use of nuclear energy, using the text and graphics to provide details that demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of its use. Nevertheless, the consequences of using nuclear energy outweigh the benefits. One of these consequences is that working with nuclear energy can cause many health problems. The text states, “Dangers include radiation sickness, cancers, and other health problems. High level radioactive waste can present hazards ‘for a million years or more,’ Kamps says.” This means that using nuclear energy can cause health problems for future generations.
This quote, which I obtained from the newspaper The Guardian’s website, is from Sasha Yuvchenko, a former employee at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. What he didn’t know at the time of the event he was describing was that he had just experienced the worst nuclear explosion in history.
Arjun Makhijani, a prominent researcher for The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, claims that today’s emission rate of carbon dioxide is about nine gigatons annually and that the Earth only has the capability to absorb 3 gigatons annually—thus a problem arises. Furthermore, Makhijani states that about 2/3rds of the carbon dioxide emissions are caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. With those shocking statistics in mind, fossil fuel’s emission of carbon dioxide is thought to be the leading cause of climate change—which is responsible for irreversible and catastrophic changes to the Earth. Yet, scientist had tremendous difficulty finding a safe, effective, and efficient form of energy supply that will met the great consumption rate. Many prominent scientist suggest that nuclear power is the most plausible explanation and solution to the fuel crisis. However, despite nuclear power having a exponentially lower emission rate, it presents its own hazards and threats—such as the Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incidents. These accidents have many activists and politicians cautious about the prospect of using nuclear power as a complete alternative to fossil fuels—regardless nuclear plants are responsible for 11% of the energy supplied to the world annually (World Nuclear Association.) What many of the activist and politicians seem to overlook is that fossil fuels are an indefinite energy supply and will quite possible run out within
At the point when the term Nuclear Power or Nuclear Energy gets utilized for the most part the first things that ring a bell for a great many people are bombs, obliteration, war, and distorted people. Which truth be told are four things that happen the minimum in the atomic force field. Atomic force is significantly more than just bombs and annihilation, bombs scarcely even take up a rate of the aggregate sum of atomic vitality utilized as a part of the world today. Most the majority of the atomic vitality utilized today comes as a part of the manifestation of generation of power. Atomic force plants are in charge of 16% of the greater part of the world's power generation; which truly may not stable like a great deal, but rather when you think
Early in the morning of April 27, 1986, the world experienced its largest nuclear disaster ever (Gould 40). While violating safety protocol during a test, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant was placed in a severely unstable state, and in a matter of seconds the reactor output shot up to 120 times the rated output (Flavin 8). The resulting steam explosion tossed aside the reactor’s 1,000 ton concrete covering and released radioactive particles up to one and a half miles into the sky (Gould 38). The explosion and resulting fires caused 31 immediate deaths and over a thousand injuries, including radiation poisoning (Flavin 5). After the
When you hear the word “nuclear”, what do you think of? Does the thought scare you, intrigue you, or have no effect at all? Nuclear energy has been a part of our lives for many years. Some events that included nuclear power included the Cold War and the Chernobyl disaster. These events have changed how people view nuclear energy. Nuclear power is used all around the world to create efficient energy, but it can also be used to create weapons and destructive material. Nuclear power has proven to be clean, efficient and cost effect; the Chernobyl disaster revealed to the world why we needed to change training, safety procedure, and the structure of the plant itself.
The responsibility to ensure the safety of nuclear energy production throughout the world is in the hands of people. But, the layperson concept may be a bit askance because many consumers may view the issue of nuclear energy only in terms of price considerations. This is a discomforting notion considering the myriad of risks involved, especially in light of the consequences that have occurred at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine. While no comparison exists in the United States (U.S.) that would enable U.S. citizens to understand the human and environmental toll that results when something tragically wrong occurs; it remains well past the time for us to consider real solutions to our energy needs that do not have the potential for such wide-spread devastation. Regardless of the various technologies and engineering acumen used to operate nuclear power plants, they are only as effective safety-wise as those who are charged with maintaining security.
On contrast, opponents hold different conceptions, they do not regard nuclear energy as a green and clean source of energy. According to Ross(2007), a news director for the National Urban League, fuel rods at every nuclear plant leak radioactive and harmful gases to atmosphere, and it is collectively releasing millions of curies annually. As a matter of fact, the essential raw material for nuclear nuclear power is uranium, which is a dangerous radioactive element. Opponents also claims that uranium tailing which is byproduct of the procession of getting energy are being inappropriately disposed, which make the situation even worse. On the other hand, after the tragedies of nuclear energy in Chernobyl, three mile island and other district, some people have become more and more impregnable to believe the nuclear energy is dangerous. Dr.
Of nine hundred Nobel Prize winners, forty-eight have been women and only fourteen women have won the prize for literature. Both the ethnicity and the literary canon of the laureates is far from diverse. In the past, many questions were raised as to why one person was chosen to join this exclusive club over another. Svetlana Alexieviech won for her moving documentation of the struggles the people of Pripyat and the soldiers faced in their lives after the nuclear tragedy. Choosing her to join the society of laureates is no mistake. Her writing fits into the current awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature according to the subject matter, according to the attempts to expand the laureate pool, and according to the unique way she composed her
The world as we know today is dependent on energy. The options we have currently enable us to produce energy economically but at a cost to the environment. As fossil fuel source will be diminishing over time, other alternatives will be needed. An alternative that is presently utilized is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is currently the most efficacious energy source. Every time the word ‘nuclear’ is mentioned, the first thought that people have is the devastating effects of nuclear energy. Granting it does come with its drawbacks; this form of energy emits far less pollution than conventional power plants. Even though certain disadvantages of nuclear energy are devastating, the advantages contain even greater rewards.
One of the most controversial topics in the field of renewable energy is nuclear energy. In nineteen eighty six, the Chernobyl power plant in modern day Ukraine (formerly the USSR) had a major, level seven meltdown. A level seven nuclear disaster is the highest disaster possible in regards to nuclear event. This meltdown caused billions of tons of radioactive material to fly into the air that spread all across Europe (Xiang, Zhu). The most recent major nuclear accident happened in two thousand eleven, in Fukushima, Japan.
On this assignment we are going to research all energy sources and their drawbacks, we are also going to explore on some the negative ramifications that even the clean hydropower have, additionally we are going to weigh those against the possible consequences of developing nuclear power, a controversial alternative to fossil fuels. We will discuss the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster as well as the 20th century Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in drawing conclusions about risk versus reward of nuclear energy use.
Nuclear power is complicated. A nuclear power plant provides energy that does not contribute to global warming. Climate concerns have seen a rise in the construction of new reactors to address growing demands of electricity worldwide. Currently the United States and Canada receive 20% of their electric power from nuclear plants. The rest of the world is at 6% but rising. The benefits drive the nuclear energy movement and continue to do so and the proponents of nuclear power see this as an indispensable solution in reducing the consumption of conflict-ridden fossil fuels. Opponents of nuclear power also make a strong case citing cost, safety and justified global concern of waste storage and the potential for nuclear weapons in areas
The modern day dependency on fossil fuels has led to a global search for ethical and environmentally-sound alternative energy. Among the most powerful is nuclear energy, though it is mired in controversy. This essay describes, among other things, the nuclear energy process, and with it the weaknesses. Amid the hope of one day using nuclear energy as a “green” energy source, there is much fear of devastation, due to the four main nuclear disasters in Earth’s history. After the most recent nuclear disaster, Fukushima, Germany reversed their stance on nuclear energy, denouncing any future involvement with the research,
From an environmental standpoint, environmentalists feel that nuclear energy would be a good thing for the world. Mark Lynas, a British environmental activist said, “Anyone who still marches against nuclear today is in my view just as bad for the climate as textbook eco-villains like that big oil companies” (Van Munster 789). Ever since the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the power of atomic energy, the words ‘atomic’ and ‘nuclear’ have been Janus-faced prefixes. To people on the outside looking in, they match atomic and nuclear up to be danger, death, and destruction. Then there is other people that have the more positive perspective and see it as a strong sense of achievement and a promise of energy abundance. Nuclear energy and its positive utility could serve humans in many ways, such as in the medical, agricultural, industrial fields, and last but not least, the electricity through the nuclear power plants. Energy resources are important in any country, but nuclear electricity is one of the best ways to strengthen a country’s energy security by diversifying its resources and increasing energy supply options (Durrani 183). In developing countries like Pakistan, they desperately need ways to develop and secure their energy resources to sustain their economic growth. Unfortunately, the sustainability of their economic growth is at risk due to the energy