The other week our Science class took up the topic Force and as expected had a discussion about Nuclear Energy. One of the activities the book told us to do was to have an oral debate on whether the use of nuclear energy was an advantage or a disadvantage. As what I have expected, about a third of my class voted off nuclear energy as a disadvantage.
People today are afraid of using nuclear energy because they were traumatized with the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine in April 1986, wherein thousands were killed by the actual explosion, radioactive effect or by the diseases caused by radiation. Yes its true, the use of nuclear energy is really a risk to the lives of a lot of people but if placed in an isolated spot an accident would have a very little effect.
Nuclear energy also gives a lot of benefits, a single power plant could produce millions of watts of electricity per second compared to a simple electric power plant that produces fewer watts. This could decrease our bills in electricity. Nuclear energy is also a source of nuclear weapons, if a country possesses nuclear weapons it would be seen as an intimidating force and would be feared by other nations, thus maintaining peace around the world. The greatest example of a nuclear weapon used as an instrument of peace is during World War II, when the Americans dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima forcing the Japs to finally surrender and thus ending the war. Nuclear energy is also helpful in the medical world, it is used in molecular imaging (its like an x-ray only it can see the inside of a human’s body much more clearly than a normal one).
And yes, nuclear energy has several disadvantages, or should I say risks? A poorly-built nuclear reactor could leak and would cause an explosion, killing thousands. But as I said earlier, if we would isolate the reactor maybe it would cause less damage.
LOUIE ENCABO.com 