The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Energy

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Introduction In the modern world, the consumption of energy is something that is inevitable. Around us, ranging from the industry to our daily life, from factories to our electronic appliances such as the computer, refrigerator and lighting, we have been consuming energy almost every second. In the history of human economic activity, the only available energy able to replace human labour were by wind, falling water and domestic animals. Humans also relied heavily on biomass burning like wood and peat for heat. Fossils fuels with compact chemically stored energy only became intensively used in the early eighteenth century, using mainly the burning of coal for steam engine, paving way for the industrial revolution. Fossil fuels used were initially…show more content…
Nuclear reactions includes nuclear fusion, radioactive decay and nuclear fission. Nuclear energy is one of the many energy sources that are now being used to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Nuclear energy today is produced by nuclear fission, which is a nuclear reaction where the nucleus of an atom is being split into smaller parts, releasing free neutrons and photons in the form of gamma ray and releasing a large amount of energy and heat. The energy and heat generated will then be used to drive turbines of the nuclear reactors to generate electricity. Currently, uranium-235 is being used in nuclear reactors for this purpose of energy generation. Advantages of Nuclear Power Nuclear energy is an energy source that is clean and reliable which is able to replace a significant portion of fossil fuel in the production of energy. Even though nuclear reactions does not produce any greenhouse gas, some greenhouse gas are inevitably produced during the lifecycle, involving emissions somewhere else due to the massive construction and its operations (Sovacool, 2008). However, as compared to the combustion of fossil fuels, the amount of greenhouse gas produced from nuclear power is significantly lower. Furthermore, the energy produced by nuclear energy is much more than fossil fuel can…show more content…
Today, the world boast some 435 commercial nuclear power plants in 31 countries, with approximately 70 still under construction, supplying almost 11.5 percent of the world’s electricity needs. Currently, sixteen countries uses nuclear energy to generate at least one quarter of their electricity. It is also noted that South Korea and Bulgaria depends on nuclear energy for power, generating more than thirty percent of their energy consumption. (World Nuclear Association,
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