For the first time in 30 years, a proposal was submitted to build two new nuclear reactors at a South Texas plant. When people think about nuclear power, they may think of the accidents at Three Mile Island or Chernobyl, or the various effects of Monty Burns' nuclear plant on Springfield, but nuclear energy is currently the best option for producing energy in a manner that releases the least amount of greenhouse gases compared to traditional methods like coal-burning facilities.
Solar and wind power are too inefficient with current technology to provide a substantial amount of power to all areas of the country.
Nuclear power is a good solution that will last for a long enough time with less pollution while we develop the technological advancements to make alternative fuel technology more viable.
Hydroelectric power is commonly thought of as a good source of power in that it doesn't use many fossil fuels, and emits no greenhouse gases besides some carbon dioxide; however, it also has its problems.
Building dams has a very large impact on aquatic ecosystems, bird and fish life, contributes to erosion and has other harmful side effects. Flooded areas caused by dams build up excess plant material, which decays and forms methane gas, a very strong greenhouse gas. Dams failing could pose major damage to surrounding populations. The failure of Banqiao Dam in China caused 171,000 deaths and millions of residents to lose their homes. They can also be targeted just as much as nuclear plants by terrorists. Even with some advantages, hydroelectric power is subject to some serious limitations that hinder it from substituting fossil fuels.
When thinking about the disadvantages of nuclear power, many people think of Three Mile Island's partial meltdown in 1979 and Chernobyl's radioactive-contamination-causing explosion in 1986.
What happened at Chernobyl would not be possible at the proposed Texas plant because of differences in design. Chernobyl's plant was of Soviet design, which has never been used in the U.S. and may have had flaws due to hasty design as an attempt to get ahead during the Cold War. U.S. nuclear technology, on the other hand, has developed constantly increasing safety precautions.
After the accident at Three Mile Island, the operation and maintenance procedures were changed to help make U.S. reactors safer for the future, so it isn't likely something like that will happen again. The style of reactors that will be used in the Texas plant are Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR), designed by General Electric, and have features that greatly reduce the chance of catastrophic effects from a system failure. There are also more recent designs that take safety precautions even further.
On top of these reactors having a completely different design, the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl happened decades ago, and should not be used as a comparison on why we shouldn't expand the use of nuclear technology today.
Also, the number of accidents in coal mines, like the one in Utah in August is very high, but we haven't stopped mining coal because we depend on it so much that it wouldn't make sense to stop. Nuclear power accounts for about 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the U.S., which is half of coal's approximately 40 percent, but a few accidents shouldn't stop us from expanding on an alternative, cleaner energy source.
Although uranium isn't strictly speaking a renewable resource, we have enough of it to last long enough to improve renewable energy technology like solar and wind power, which is a more sustainable energy source for longer-term use. A valid criticism of nuclear power is the dangerous waste that it produces, but developments in recycling and storage techniques can hopefully offset this disadvantage. Nuclear power would be a good start in the right direction to finding more environmentally-friendly alternative sources of energy.
Confirm Monique's fears that cockroaches could survive nuclear fallout at: monique.devoe@asu.edu.
