Topic > Nuclear Energy: Impact of Radioactive Particles on the Environment

On August 6, 1945, the world realized the power of nuclear reactions when the atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing dozens of people. of thousands. Soon after the end of World War II, the United States Atomic Energy Commission was created to help control the development of atomic energy and to help create peacetime uses for nuclear energy. In 1954, the first nuclear power plant was opened to produce electricity for the city of Obninsk in the Soviet Union at the Institute of Physics and Energy Engineering and was used as a prototype for future nuclear reactor designs. This demonstrated to the world's best scientists and engineers that nuclear energy could be used to power cities across the planet. In 2000, 438 nuclear power plants were operating worldwide, providing 16% of the planet's electricity supply. However, this number has slowed significantly. As of 2019, there are only 4 more power plants in total, bringing the total to 442 nuclear reactors worldwide. This raises the question: why isn't nuclear energy expanding at an exponential rate yet? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Much of this may be due to the high cost and potential dangers of the “futuristic” fuel source. All nuclear power plants produce waste; Much of this waste consists of disposable items such as protective suits, masks, filters and tools that are considered “low-level waste” due to lower levels of radioactivity. These low-level materials are subject to special regulations regarding handling, storage, processing and disposal so that they do not come into contact with the external environment. High-level waste is created when irradiated (spent) nuclear fuels cannot be reused to create electricity. Even if it cannot provide energy to power plants, the waste is still dangerous. Since the only way radioactive waste becomes harmless is through decay which can last up to fifteen million years depending on the types of isotopes present, the waste must be stored and disposed of in a manner that ensures adequate public protection for a very long period. long. Disposing of one cubic meter of highly radioactive waste in the UK can cost from £67,000 to £201,000 or over US$262,000. Waste is produced throughout the process of creating nuclear energy, from the extraction of uranium ore to create the reactors to the final disposal of both high- and low-level waste products. Such expenditures could cause companies to become careless and avoid using proper disposal techniques necessary to protect both humanity and the environment from nuclear disasters. Perhaps the best-known nuclear accident is the 1984 Chernobyl disaster, when a reactor core at the power plant was damaged, resulting in the release of significant quantities of radioactive isotopes. Because of this disaster and others such as the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, scientists have begun to understand why nuclear energy may not be the fuel choice of the future after all . Social scientist Benjamin K. Sovacool reports that between 1952 and 2009, 99 accidents were recorded at nuclear power plants around the world, totaling $20.5 billion in property damage. What defines an accident as a disaster..