Environment and nuclear energy

Environment and nuclear power

Until we can successfully  educate  global electorate one real pros and cons of nuclear power as we will not be able to engage in a healthy national discussion on the topic. Nuclear power plants generate 20 per cent of U.S. energy they don’t burn hydrocarbons when they produce electricity. They don’t produce any green house gases or combustion by products. By substituting for fossil fuels in electricity sector, nuclear energy has significantly reduce U.S. emissions of air pollutants and green house gases.

More than one quarter  of America electricity comes from clean air sources, including nuclear power plants, hydro electric , wind and solar energy facilities. Nuclear energy is the only large scale -clean air electricity since that can be expanded widely to produce large amounts of energy. In 2009 U.S. nuclear power plants prevented the emissions of 0.6 million short tons of nitrogen oxide emissions that nuclear power plants prevent annually is the equivalent of taking 29 million passenger cars off the road.

In 2009 U.S.nuclear power plants prevented the emissions of     647 million metric tons of carbon dioxide . This is nearly as much as carbon dioxide as released from all U.S. passenger cars. The environmental protection agency EPA will begin to regulate green house gases emissions pollutants under new rule issued in 2010. EPA already regulates both nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide under clean air act.

The environmental responsibility is an important part of nuclear power plant management .The companies that operate nuclear power plants work voluntarily to protect nearby wild life and their habitats

America’s 104 nuclear power plants provide 20 percent of electricity.  Among clean air sources nuclear energy  plays even greater role . Only 29 per cent of America  come clean air sources and nuclear power plants generate almost 70 per cent of its.

Many scientists believe that carbon dioxide emissions increase earth’s temperature, bringing about changes in climate . According U.S. environmental protection agency 85 per cent of U.S. green house gases emissions are carbon dioxides. Nuclear energy plays vital role in green gases mitigation has been established in variety of studies by inter governmental panel on climate change, Columbia university’ s  earth institute, the national academies of science from 13 leading industrial and developing nations and international atomic energy  agency.

To compare the green house gas impacts of electricity generation from various sources the generation of 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity produces.

996 metric tons of carbon dioxide  from coal fired plant
809 metric tons of carbon dioxide from oil fired plant
476 metric tons of carbon dioxide from natural gas fire plant
Zero metric tons of carbon dioxide from  nuclear power plant

In 2009 the use of nuclear power to generate electricity avoided the emissions of nearly as much as carbon dioxide as released from all U.S. passenger cars combined. If nuclear power were not used, about 125 millions tons of national 136 million tons passenger car would have to be eliminated to keep U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from increasing. More than 400 nuclear power plants world wide produce 14 per cent of the world electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.5 million metric tons per years.

The nuclear energy institute stands by industry views as essential on essential elements of climate change policy. The industry believes that an effective climate change policy  depends on port folio of energy sources including nuclear energy and renewable to help prevent green house gases.

Some environmentalists are in deed covering around nuclear energy that because the nuclear fission process produces virtually no green house gasses emissions, unlike burning of fossil fuel such as coal or natural gas. Those two fossil fuel account 70 per cent of U.S. electricity in 2008. Also fission produces neither sulfur dioxide nor nitrogen oxides, the fossil fuel pollutants that cause acid rain.

Life cycle analysis is a mechanism for measuring the total environmental impact of various energy sources. The environmental researchers have evaluated total emission various from energy sources. This include emissions resulting from all aspects of each energy source- construction operation, dismantling and disposal . According to university of Wisconsin study the life cycle impact of nuclear energy is among the lowest if any form of electricity generation comparable with renewable technologies such as wind geo-thermal power  

NUCLEAR PLANT  SITE : water use and habitat for wild life.

Protecting the  environment extends to safety , managing used fuel, protect environment in all these ways, under strict regulations and thorough voluntary programs. Cooling water discharged from a nuclear power plant contains no harmful pollutants and it meets government act requirement and state standards temperature mineral contents.

Nuclear power is the world’s largest source of emission free energy. Nuclear power plants produce no controlled air pollutants, such as   sulfur and particulates, or  green house gases. The use of nuclear power in place of other energy sources help to keep the air clean preserve the earth’s climate to avoid ground level ozone formation and prevent acid rain.

Nuclear power has important implications for national security. Inexpensive nuclear power, in combination with fuel cell technology , could significantly reduce dependency on foreign oil.

The nuclear power plants have experienced an admirable safety record. About 20 percent of electricity generated in U.S. comes from nuclear power and last forty years of this production not a single fatality has  occurred  as a result of operation of  a civilian nuclear power plants in United States. In comparison many people die in coal mining accidents, every year and approximately ten thousand Americans die every year from pollution related to coal burning.

The nuclear power industry generates approximately 2000 tons of solid waste  annually in U.S. in comparison coal fuelled power plants produce 100,000,000 tons of ash is laced with poisons such as mercury and nitric oxide. Even this 2000 tons of nuclear waste is not a technical problem. Reprocessing of nuclear fuel and implementation of integral fast reactor technology, will enable us to turn the vast majority  of what is currently considered waste into  energy.

Unfortunately the voting public has been victimized for forty years of miss information regarding  safety of nuclear power . The graphs on nuclear energy  showing it to be safe economical and in national interests are countered by anti nuclear activist using fear tactics to frighten the electorate into inaction.

Advocates are fond of noting that nuclear power provides 70 per cent of country carbon free energy. But nuclear energy is not really zero carbon free system, since you have to build power plants, mine and enrich uranium and transport processed fuel all of which typically, rely on CO2 emitting fuel sources. Even when entire life cycle is taken in to account, however, nuclear energy warms the planet much less than coal or natural  gas.

While its commonly accepted that  nuclear power has relatively dainty foot  print, the question of whether new reactors would be the most cost effective to lower electricity related emission is still hotly debated. The fuel itself is relatively in expensive for the time being.  But noted a time a recent price estimates for large plant  12  billion dollars to 18 billion dollars that’s  before you consider the nuclear industry’s history of major cost overruns.

The government nuclear regularity commission has set  safety goal for every reactor in the country. The chances of an accident that results in radioactivity being released to the environment must be no more than one in million, as determined by probabilistic risk assessment. But even the longest of odds will never safely every one especially after  the cataclysmic drilling accident in Gulf Mexico. In recent years, a number of leaks of radio active water have stroked environmental ire, although nearby residents were not exposed to dangerous  doses of radiation. The real problem is that after 50 years we still don’t  have a long term plan  for storing high level commercial nuclear waste.

It is worth noting that uranium is very efficient energy source. One ton of natural uranium can produce the same number of Kilowatt hours as 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.

At the same time every energy technology has it pit falls. So if nuclear power can play a role in cooling the planet ,think that this energy should deserve to stay.