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Kaleb Powell

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010

04 April 2018

The Truth About Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is the most promising upcoming alternative to traditional coal, and fossil

fuel energy production. There have been ninety-nine nuclear incidents from Fukushima, to Three

Mile Island, to the most famous, Chernobyl. Chernobyl is one of, if not the most famous nuclear

incident in the world. In 1986 the Chernobyl 4 reactor in Ukraine melted down. This caused

widespread fallout, leading to many deaths and diseases. Radiation poisoning made the land

dangerous to humans until 2011 when the Chernobyl was opened as a tourist site (Chernobyl

Accident 1986). Is the reward that nuclear energy promises really worth the dangers of radiation

poisoning, cancer, land destruction, and pollution?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 sixty-five percent of

greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide. In 2016 the world emitted nearly 79.8 trillion pounds

of CO2. Americanforests.org claims that one mature tree can absorb 48 pounds of CO2 a year.

This website also estimates that there are 3.8 billion trees in cities alone. That means that the trees

in US cities alone can clean 182.4 billion pounds of CO2 from the air. There are an estimated over

300 trillion trees on the planet (Nature Video). They could clean 144 trillion pounds of CO2 from

the air per year. This sounds hopeful for the world. Trees seem to clean out more C02 from the air

than is released. Sadly this is not as perfect as it sounds. The amount of residual CO2 in the air
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from years past is more than trees can compensate for. This deficit is compounded by the fact that

not all trees scrub exactly forty-eight pounds of CO2 from the air, and deforestation is rampant,

leaving humans with less trees every year. Mankind needs to find a way of slowing carbon dioxide

There are a few different types of nuclear reactors, the most common of which are called

light water reactors (LWR). All reactors work under the same basic principle, Uranium fuel rods

suspended in a moderator. The uranium undergoes fission, the splitting of atoms, releasing neutrons

that hit the other fuel rods, causing a what is called a fission cycle. This process causes heat to be

generated, which boils water, releasing steam and turns electric turbines, generating the power.

Light water reactors use ordinary water as a coolant and moderator. The purpose of a moderator is

to slow down neutrons after they are released from the fission process. Without the moderator, the

neutrons would be released too fast to react with other uranium and the fission cycle would be

unsustainable (Nave). Light water reactors also have the added benefit of using one liquid for both

cooling and moderating. As the fission heats up the water, releasing steam, cooling the reactor,

much like sweating on a hot day. Because water is used as the moderator and coolant it is difficult

for these reactors to melt down, a run away of the fission cycle, causing extreme heat that literally

melts the reactor, and fuel rods. Meltdowns also release vast amounts of radiation. LWR mitigate

this risk, because if the rods become too hot they boil off more water, leaving less moderating

water, causing the reaction to slow down, until fission is unsustainable.

Nuclear energy is fabled as being the ultimate energy production means. It promises to

revolutionize how energy is produced by creating more energy quicker, and cleaner than any other

means of production out there. Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nuclear Electricity

Generation, published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology studied just how efficient nuclear power
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plants really are. They looked at, and then harmonized the results from 27 different studies of

greenhouse gas emissions. Harmonization of statistics is defined as, “adjustment of differences and

inconsistencies among different measurements, methods, procedures, schedules, specifications, or

systems to make them uniform.” Put simply,

harmonization is when all extraneous data is removed,

and leaving the most crucial, and consistent data points.

The results from these studies found reactor emissions to

be to be between 12 and 110 grams of carbon dioxide per

kilowatt hour (gCO2/kWh) for LWR. The study states

that the large variance in the three results are most likely

caused by differences in data gathering, and differing

quality of uranium ore used. Even if the worst case

scenario after harmonization is used nuclear power plants

generate 110 gCO2/kWh. Compare this to the 1992

national average of 321.5 gCO2/kWh. Using the best case

scenario after harmonization the results are less than 15

gCO2/kWh (Warner, Heath). This is a drastic change in

the amount of greenhouse gases produce. In 2017 america

used 3.82 trillion kilowatt hours of power, that is enough

to power nearly 350 billion American homes for a year.

At the worst emission rate for nuclear power plant to

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create that kind of energy energy emissions would amount to 2.72 trillion pounds of CO2.

Not only do nuclear power plants help the environment on the basis of pollution, but they

also take up less land than other clean energies. According the Nuclear Energy Institute’s website,

a 1,000 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant requires a mear 1.3 square miles of land. Compare

that to solar farms that require between forty five and seventy five square miles of land, and wind

farms that require two hundred sixty to three hundred sixty square miles. Solar and wind energy

are not as efficient as nuclear, as they require specific weather conditions, like clear skies, and

gusty days in order to operate as effectively as they can. Because of this a 1,000 MW wind or solar

farm is not equal to a nuclear reactor of the same power generating capabilities. A wind farm of

between 1,900 and 2,800 MW is more comparable in total yearly energy output as a 1,000 MW

nuclear reactor. The numbers are even worse for solar, being between 3,300 and 5,400 MW (Land

Needs for Wind).

Many people worry about how much radiation they will be exposed to if the number of

nuclear power plants increases. This comes as no surprise as ionizing nuclear radiation is extremely

harmful to the human body, especially a developing body. Ionizing radiation comes in the form of

alpha particles, beta particles, neutron particles, gamma rays and X-rays. These forms of radiation,

unlike the harmless non ionizing radiation forms, actually has the capability of destroying and

altering genetic information stored in the DNA (Denny). According to a 2015 paper published in

the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, who studied the effects of radiation from the chernobyl

disaster on the developing brains of children still in the womb in Sweden, “Ionizing radiation of the

fetal brain has been shown to be associated with decreased cognitive function,” and “Using data

from 562,637 Swedes born from 1983 to 1988... Forty percent of the subjects were more likely to
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fail middle school and have grade-point averages 5% lower than those students who were from

other areas in Sweden” (Heiervang, et al. 211). Common examples of “decreased cognitive

function” include learning disabilities, autism, and Down Syndrome. As the human population

grows, and the demand for power with it, we as a species need to find an alternative to fossil fuels.

Nuclear Energy is an effective, and efficient tool for power generation. Reactors are able to

generate more power, with a fraction of the pollution than the most prevalent forms of electricity

generation used world wide. Many countries have realized the capabilities of nuclear power, and

are making the shift, and in turn cleaning up the air in their countries.

Works Cited
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“Chernobyl Accident 1986” World Nuclear Association, Nov. 2016,

www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-

accident.aspx.

Denny, Shawn, et al. “Advisory Committee On Human Radiation Experiments Final Report.”

EHSS Welcome, ehss.energy.gov/ohre/roadmap/achre/intro_9_5.html.

“Land Needs for Wind, Solar Dwarf Nuclear Plant's Footprint.” Nuclear Energy Institute, 9 July

2015, www.nei.org/news/2015/land-needs-for-wind-solar-dwarf-nuclear-plants.

“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Apr. 2017,

www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data.

Heiervang, Kristin Sverdik, et al. "Effect of Low Dose Ionizing Radiation Exposure in Utero on

Cognitive Function in Adolescence." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 51, no. 3,

June 2010, pp. 210-215.

Nature Video. “How Many Trees Are There in the World? [Video].” Scientific American, 9 Sept.

2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-many-trees-are-there-in-the-world-video/.

Nave, Carl R. “Light Water Reactors.” Light Water Nuclear Reactors,

hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/ligwat.html.

Warner, Ethan S. and Garvin A. Heath. "Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nuclear

Electricity Generation." Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol. 16, April 2012 Supplement, pp.

S73-S92.