Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is used to produce energy. Nuclear power has been used since 1954, when several nations had devoted themselves to research in the area during the Second World War. The motive was the first to make an atomic bomb. The first successful experiments with nuclear fission were performed in Berlin in 1938 by German physicists Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann. The first nuclear power plant was started in Russia in 1954. The number of reactors in the world then increased rapidly after 1954.

The atomic bomb became a powerful weapon and the United States released the world's first nuclear bomb over the industrial city of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Damage to humans and buildings was devastating and radioactive substances spread over large areas. Atomic bombs and nuclear power plants are based on the same principle, releasing energy by splitting isotope uranium-235 and then launching a chain reaction. The biggest difference is that in a nuclear power plant, the neutrons are caught so that the chain reaction is not amplified.

Benefits of nuclear power

If nuclear power is good or bad, much is discussed in the media. There is a great resistance movement claiming that the risks are too high in comparison with the benefits. There have been 2 major nuclear accidents that have shaken the world and with its major consequences, one in Japan and one in Ukraine.

But there are also many benefits of the energy source. Some of the arguments used for nuclear power are the low carbon emissions, the constant power generation, the unusually low deaths and the weather independence.

Nuclear power does not contribute to a reinforced greenhouse effect, as it has such low carbon emissions, which is one of our biggest problems.

Nuclear power also enables stable and large-scale power generation because it is not dependent on wind and weather. It produces almost half of Sweden's electricity needs with the help of only a few reactors and the cost of fuel (uranium) is also relatively low, so the production of electricity itself is cheap. Deaths connected to nuclear power are also not as many as you can imagine. It is the breakdown of coal and hydroelectric power which accounts for the most deaths when hydroelectric ponds are broken or accidents occur in coal mines.

Disadvantages of nuclear power

Some of the major disadvantages of nuclear power are the costs of building nuclear power plants, high-level waste, the risk of accidents and the breakdown of uranium.

Building a new nuclear power plant costs $ 75,000 to build per kWh, which is among the highest building costs for energy production. On the other hand, production itself is relatively cheap, but it does not weigh up for building costs. As a country or society, one has to ask if it is worth spending so much money on something that is an uncertain environment to work in, while exposing society to various possible risks.

There are two main types of accidents that lead to the dispersion of radioactive substances-leaching and hardening. It is leaking small amounts of radioactive substances from nuclear power stations all the time, but if a nuclear power plant for some reason would leak a larger dose of radioactive substances, the radiation on the ground gets caught by the plants nearby. If an animal eats the plants and then becomes human fertility, human beings get the radioactive substances themselves and risk getting cancer. If such a leak occurs, you must close all windows, doors and ventures, as inhalation of one millionths of plutonium leads to lung cancer.

A very famous accident that did not only affect the area around the accident but also spread radioactive waste around Europe was the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant located in Ukraine. On April 26, an explosion occurred in reactor 4 at the nuclear power plant, and this was due, inter alia, to the construction of the reactor, but also to the closure of several safety systems. With the help of the wind, radioactive substances spread up to 1 100 million of the accident, and it is estimated that at least 1000 people died due to the radiation. There were also many malformations on newborn babies due to the radiation after the accident.

Yet another negative effect of nuclear power plants is that the reactor's hot water used as the cooling water is released straight into the ocean and heats up adjacent seas by about 10 °, which rubs the marine ecosystem.

Something that helps many think nuclear power is a non-eco-friendly energy production are uranium degradation that leads to a lot of carbon dioxide emissions. Even though the production of electricity is free of environmentally hazardous emissions, nuclear power has an impact on the greenhouse effect. It is so bad that about 10 percent of Sweden's total carbon dioxide emissions occur in the breakdown of uranium.

But what is discussed most about disadvantages of nuclear power is the management of radioactive residual waste generated when you have cleavage uranium-235. In order for the radioactive substances to not harm humans or animals, they must be kept in a very safe way. In Sweden, the residual waste will be buried in copper capsules of about 500 meters down the bedrock. There it will be for 100,000 years, when it has stopped being radioactive and harmless. This is unfortunately a very expensive and time consuming process.