Nuclear Energy example essay topic

Adam CappelenPublic Policy Reflection Paper 12-5-03 National Energy Plan! SS The balance between energy consumption and the environment have always seemed at odds with one another. Is it possible that the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge could be opened to oil exploration without adverse effects to the environment? I believe it can. !" Q.) What type of National Energy Policy do we have here? A.) Years of misguided federal and state environmental policies have raised the cost of production, failed to improve our nation's aging infrastructure, and dangerously increased America's dependence on unreliable foreign sources.

The result: rising consumer utility bills, rapidly increasing gasoline prices, and rolling blackouts and brownouts. A fundamental imbalance between supply and demand defines our nation's energy crisis if energy production increases at the same rate as during the last decade our projected energy needs will far outstrip expected levels of production. Q.) What is the current legislation? A.) In early 2001, President Bush unveiled his National Energy Policy Report and I feel that was a step in the right direction. It recommends environmentally sound changes to increase domestic supply, improve delivery, reform counterproductive regulations, and encourage energy diversity. Although more should be done to ensure that any new policies adhere to free-market principles, the plan provides a blueprint for reform.

More recently, the Energy Conservation, Research, and Development Act of 2003 passed the House of Representatives 246-180. It goal is to conduct a balanced, long-term research effort in the areas of Buildings, Industry, Freedom CAR and Vehicle Technologies and Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure. Grants will be offered to develop and transfer various energy conservation technologies to the nonfederal sector. Some examples of funded projects Grants have been awarded to perform: (1) Research on high performance heat pumps; (2) research on thermally efficient commercial buildings; (3) research in vehicle engines; (4) research on high temperature materials; and (5) research on industrial separation processes. Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) praised House passage of a comprehensive energy plan designed to boost the economy and help secure energy independence. The legislation is estimated to create nearly one million jobs, promote conservation and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.!

SS America deserves a comprehensive energy plan that will help relieve us of our current reliance on foreign sources of energy, !" Cannon said.! SS Over the last year, Americans have witnessed the largest blackout in our history and skyrocketing natural gas prices. This bill will help ensure cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy for Americans today and also for future generations. !" ! SS This legislation will not only power our energy security, but it will also add fuel to a recovering economy by creating nearly one million jobs, !" Cannon concluded. Q.) What is the cost of having to rely on O.P.E.C.? A.) The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has a membership of 11 countries. The members of OPEC currently supply more than 40 per cent of the world's oil and they possess about 78 per cent of the world's total proven crude oil reserves.

Our world economy depends upon petroleum; petroleum, in fact, has shaped the modern world. It has dictated production technologies and methods. It has facilitated the emergence of a worldwide transportation network. It has allowed cites to grow and expand, and determined the spatial landscape of regions. Due to our great need for petroleum, the scope of OPEC's power surpasses our prowess as an economic superpower, considering OPEC regulates the output and the price of oil from their reserves.

We as a nation need to step out of the grasp of this! SS cartel!" . We must and we are working to develop new and better technologies with cleaner and more efficient power. Q.) What are our major sources of energy? A.) Here in America we have an abundance of minerals! K coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, and timber.

Natural gas - proved reserves 5.195 trillion cu m (January 2002 est.) Oil! V production - 8.054 million bbl / day (2001 est.) Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 71.4% hydro: 5.6% other: 2.3% (2001) nuclear: 20.7%Q.) What alternative sources are available but under utilized? A.) I believe that Nuclear Power is the horribly neglected. Some of the pros and the cons of Nuclear Power are as follows! K fo The issue of global climate change has been widely reported on. Nuclear power plants do not produce carbon dioxide emissions, which are a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global climate change. In fact, nuclear energy releases no emissions of any kind.

The US Representative to UN Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador John B. Rich, has declared that 'only nuclear energy can help meet the world's energy needs without threatening the environment. ' Worldwide, reliance on nuclear energy has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by almost 500 million metric tons annually. fo The entire nuclear power industry generates approximately 2,000 tons of solid waste annually in the United States. All technical and safety issues have been resolved in creation of a high-level waste repository in the United States; politics are the only reason we do not have one. In comparison, coal fired power produces 100,000,000 tons of ash and sludge annually, and this ash is laced with poisons such as mercury and nitric oxide.

Industry generates 36,000,000 tons of hazardous waste, and the kind they make will be with us forever, not decaying away. Also, this waste does not receive nearly the care and attention in disposal that radioactive waste does. This is not to say that radioactive waste is more dangerous; it is not. We should probably be more careful with other industrial wastes. Some Environmental Benefits of Nuclear Power Generation are!

K Safety. While no source of electrical power generation is completely safe, nuclear power has a remarkable record. About 20% of electricity generated in the U.S. comes from nuclear power, and in the last forty years of this production, not one single fatality has occurred as a result of the operation of a civilian nuclear power plant in the United States, Western Europe, Japan, or South Korea. No other form of energy production can even come close. Economical.

Nuclear power plants are one of the most economical forms of energy production. Fuel costs for an equivalent amount of power run from 1/3rd to 1/6th the cost for fossil production, and capital and non-fuel operating costs are roughly equivalent, resulting in the overall cost of nuclear generation of electricity running 50% to 80% that of other sources. This is in spite of the fact that capital costs have been hugely inflated due to lawsuits, court injunctions, and other delaying tactics used by individuals and organizations opposed to nuclear power. Reliability. Nuclear power plant capacity factors average about 75%. This is about equivalent to those of fossil fired plants, and since nuclear plants are required by the NRC to shut down for what often amounts to trivial reasons, that would indicate they are actually more reliable than fossil plants.

Wind and Solar power can't come close to the capacity factors of nuclear power, for obvious reasons. The population of the United States and the World is growing rapidly, and even with significant conservation measures, demand for electricity will increase. This is particularly true if we can move a significant number of people from gasoline powered cars to light rail and electric automobiles, both of which require large amounts of electricity. Nuclear power is a proven, safe, and effective technology for production of electricity, and the technical issues of radiation control and waste management have long since been resolved. Q.) What is your projection for the future? A.) A majority of people around these days grew up in a time where anything with the word! SS nuclear!" in it causes them to flinch. Its just the way life was back the.

I think America is going to have to adapt. Were stretched to the seams as it is right now so I cant see how we can go on much longer with out creating safe alternatives to out dependence on fossil fuels.