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Impact of the Nuclear Energy System

   

Added on  2021-05-27

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NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR ENERGY SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NAME OF THE STUDENT COURSE DATE

NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATESSummaryMajority of the carbon emitted today comes from the combustion of fossil fuels like petroleum, coal, oil shale and natural gas, in order to provide the energy required to make electricity, produce heat and cause motion in machines like auto motives. The emission of the carbon increases the concentration of the greenhouse gases that deplete the ozone layer which protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Consequently, the emissions become hazardous to the environment. Various moves have been conducted by governments and are underway, in order to adopt low carbon energy supplies, such as renewable sources like solar energy and nuclear energy. These will regulate the levels of the greenhouse gases and hence preserving the environment for the generations to come. This report focuses on nuclear energy which involves nuclear fission and fusion as means of generating energy in the United States. The history of the nuclear energy, the state of the nuclear energy technology in the United States,the impact of the nuclear energy on other energy systems, the future of the nuclear energy and itsbarriers and opportunities are discussed in the report.

NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATESTable of Contents1.Introduction.2.Current State of the nuclear energy technology in the United States.3.The Impact of the Nuclear Energy System on other Fuels.4.Technical Developments Currently Present and those of the Future.5.Opportunities and Limitations of Nuclear Energy.6.Views on the Nuclear Energy Technology based on the Existing Evidence,7.References.

NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATESIntroductionNuclear energy involves the harnessing of energy from the unstable nucleus of an atom. The unstable nucleus can either split therefore producing energy in a process called nuclear fission, or it can react by joining with another nucleus to gain stability and in the process release energy, in a process called nuclear fusion. These nuclear processes releasemore energy than any other energy harnessing source including the currently used fossil fuels. Unlike the fossil fuels, nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gases and othertoxic gases that would directly pollute the air. Therefore, the technique is among the low carbon energy supply techniques that aim to conserve the environment. However, as compared to other renewable sources of energy like the solar energy, nuclear energy despite producing high energy content is less favorable because of its harmful toxic radioactive waste which is still a challenge disposing. The waste is hazardous to people as it causes genetic mutations. On the other hand, solar energy is a low carbon energy technique that produces relatively high energy and has no harmful waste that would harmpeople and hence, it is favorable. The nuclear energy was discovered in the early years during the discovery of the X-rays. However, it was not until the Russians began their experiments on uranium where the massive energy release of the radioactive materials was discovered. This led to the formation of nuclear bombs which left serious effects in the 1950`s. However, it was not until 1951 where the EBR-1 was designed and operated in Idaho to produce electricity. The Soviet Union began working on improving the reactor designs and to design new ones (World Nuclear Association). In 1954, the FEI in Obninsk began generating nuclear power electricity. Obninsk developed fast breeder reactors and lead bismuth reactors for the navy. In 1955, Bystry Reaktor fast reactor

NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATESwhich was a fast neutron reactor began operating. However, it did not generate power as expected, nevertheless, it paved the way for the designing of sodium cooled FBRs. The main United States ebreakthrough was through Hymal, which developed the pressure reactor that used water for the US navy. In 1960 however, Westinghouse designed the first commercial Pressure Water Reactor, which began to operate in 1992 in order to provide electricity to the citizens of the US. The nuclear power faced a decline from the 1970`s to 2002 despite the increase in its energy capacity, because of the handling of the energy which was not known to the operators and hence, there were many harmful accidents that caused deaths. Moreover, the toxic waste from the reactors made people object the use of the nuclear energy. Even today the concerns about the disposal of the radioactive waste from nuclear plants are still many and they make the use of this energy difficult to implement. However, research is underway to obtain methods of disposing this harmful waste and facilitate the nuclear power usage. United States of America has been the global leader for the nuclear energy for a very long time, however, this leadership is slowly fading away as a result of various reasons such as: the decline in electricity consumption leading to a closure of some of the nuclear plants. This is however taking a new turn, with the introduction of electrical appliances that in increasing the electricity consumption of Americans. Moreover, the availability of cheaper energy sources like fossil fuels, fuel cells, coal, solar energy and tidal energy opted by the United States makes the decline of the nuclear energy power for the US. Moreover, the construction of new nuclear plants takes a very long time to get approved by the United States government and this discourages the potential investors and has reduced the nuclear energy power of the United States. Countries like France and Japan

NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY SUPPLY METHOD FOR THE UNITED STATESwho are embracing the nuclear energy technology have a brighter future in becoming the moguls of nuclear energy and laying down the United States.Figure 1: Showing the operation of a nuclear reactor plant. Available from: http://45nuclearplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Nuclear_Plant.gif

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