Problem+Research

Smith, Gar. "Don't mini-mize the dangers of nuclear power." //Earth Island Journal// Summer 2011: 15. //Student Resources in Context//. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

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Worst Nuclear disasters in history 1957- In United Kingdom radioactive cloud cause 200 cancer cases and 35 workers are injured while stopping the fire. 1957- In Soviet Union reactor explodes, 10,000 evacuated, 200 dead 1975- United States, fire burns for 7 hours at Brown's ferry with 2 reactors running, 1979- United States, Meltdown at TMI, thousands evacuated 1981-United States, plant under repairs for 14 months, on start up plant catches fire and one backup generator is destroyed, leaving only one working 1983-United Kingdom, Radiation contamination causes the plant near Sellafield to be closed. 1986- Soviet Union, the worst nuclear accident happens at Chernobyl with death estimates reaching up to 1 million. 1997-Japan 37 employees and several nearby neighborhoods are exposed to radiation fromTokaimura 1999- Japan an accidental chain reaction at Tokaimura kills two workers 2004- Japan steam leads to the poisoning and death of 4 workers at Mihama 2006- Sweden Forsmark power and backup power are both lost, complete core meltdown almost occurred 2008- France 18000 liters of water that have not been cleansed are released

Mariotte, Michael. "Second thoughts on nuclear power: cancer, toxic spills, and damage to ecosystems from mining might come with nuclear energy production." //The Futurist// Nov.-Dec. 2009: 23. //Student Resources in Context//. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

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Mining Uranium or any other fissionable element is very dangerous due to the nature of mining, and the fact what you are mining is radioactive In order for nuclear power to cut down on carbon-dioxide emissions noticeably somewhere around 2000 new reactors would need to be made, as of now there are only about 400 reactors in the world Radioactive waste is stored in steel and concrete containers, which will breakdown long before the atomic waste does Yucca Mountain was being prepared to be used as a storage place, but the mountain in itself provided almost no protection against the radiation so the project was shut down After the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island the amount of lung cancer cases downwind of the reactor had increased by over 600%

Arthur, Edward D., Paul T. Cunningham, and Richard Wagner, Jr. "Plutonium, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons." //Issues in Science and Technology// 15.3 (1999): 29+. //Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.

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As Nuclear energy technology increases that same technology to produce stronger and stronger nuclear weapons The nuclear waste that is created while making energy still contains a high amount of plutonium, which can be stolen and turned into weapons The original plan of a "closed cycle" where nuclear waste would continue to be reused was abandoned in 1977 causing the amount of nuclear waste to be much higher then planned By the year 2050 the amount of plutonium stored in nuclear waste will have gone from the current 1000 metric tons to 3000-5000 metric tons Plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years, meaning that the storage and protection of this nuclear waste will continue for almost an endless amount of time and be extremely expensive Fresh nuclear waste releases enough radiation to make it almost un-stealable, however if the new cycle is ever adopted the nuclear waste would not be as dangerous and would be much easier to steal or sneak off with. If any major changes would happen such as breeder reactors it would take over 30 years for the world to adopt the plan and convert all of the existing plutonium filled nuclear waste

"Nuclear Energy: Still a Bad Idea." //Home | Common Dreams//. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. .

Nuclear power plants cost $2 billion to open making them more expensive then gas or coal power plants In order to make nuclear energy create 40% of American energy the cost would be just under half a trillion dollars The Yucca Mountain facility had cost over $20 billion but was still closed because it could not effectively prevent radiation leaks. Based on current knowledge uranium mining for fuel would fall behind consumption as early as 2026 If nuclear power is spread into weaker countries they would provide soft targets for terrorists in need of bomb material or in danger of bombings Large Nuclear reactors return control of a majority of power into certain small groups, instead of everyone taking part in producing energy which is the current goal

"Our greed for energy will be our downfall." //New Statesman// [1996] 5 Dec. 2005: 6+. //Infotrac Newsstand//. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

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The billions that will be spent to hold nuclear waste could be used to further develope other types of clean energy In 20 years many countries will begin decomesioning reactors, meaning nuclear pole will begin to play a very small role but at very high costs If any other type of clean energy is made more readily available people will prefer to use that over nuclear energy High demand has caused demand to increase dramatically, causing requests for new power plants that have not been improved to the performance they are wanted to perform at Many of the new consumers of energy (countries) have means of producing that are clean and make more sense based on their geographic location

"Nuclear Power and Nuclear Energy Dangers | Greenpeace." //Greenpeace | Greenpeace//. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. .

The new reactors that are being planned have no containment domes to act as a fail safe in case of a nuclear meltdown Money would be better spent developing types of energy that won't become a target for terrorists Many nuclear reactors are being used inside of ships, causing accidents to be much more dangerous then with a similar fuel powered vessel As nuclear reactors become more powerful the risks from a meltdown incrase, including the risks of polluting other reactors and possibly settingoff a chain reaction Meltdowns can leave patches of land uninhabitable for generation, leaving mile wide holes in countries making travel and other basic actions harder The radiation released at Chernobyl was 100 times more then the combined radiation from the bombs dropped on Japan, meaning nuclear power plants are a much bigger safety concern due to the increased concentration and increased probability of poisoning The work required to build and maintain nuclear power plants was drastically slowed down the progress made towards clean energy as resources are pulled away from their original purpose Many countries have begun to phase out of nuclear power in favor of cheaper, less dangerous, less controversial energy