Nuclear Power As Energy Source

Outline

Introduction

Discussion

Conclusion

Introduction

Since the oil embargo of 1973, Americans have used energy more wisely and more efficiently. During this time, our population has grown from 211 million to almost 280 million, our economy has grown about 50 percent, but our use of energy has grown only 10 percent. But our economic growth, however, has been fueled largely by electric power.

Between 1973 and 1990, our GDP, which is the measurement of a nation's wealth, grew by about 50 percent. In the same period, electricity use grew by 58 percent. From this information, we can conclude that in order to meet the needs of our strong economy and our growing population, we must have reliable supplies of electric power. The nation's nuclear power plants produced 674 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1996. This was more electricity than the entire country consumed in the early 1950s. Worldwide, there are 442 nuclear power plants at work, contributing about 19 percent of the world's electricity supply. At the time of the 1973 oil embargo, oil accounted for about 17 percent of US. electric supply; nuclear energy was about 5 percent. In 1990, however, oil represented only about 4 percent of U.S. electric supply, while nuclear energy accounted for about 21 percent. Consequently, the U.S. imports 20 million barrels less of oil each year. For example, since l973, nuclear energy has displaced 4.3 billion barrels of imported oil and reduced our trade deficit by $12 billion. This decrease in our trade deficit causes a direct increase of our Gross National Product, which is also measure of a nations wealth. Nuclear energy plants produce electricity through the fission of uranium, not the burning of fuels. Consequently, nuclear power plants do not pollute the air with nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, dust or greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

America's nuclear energy plants reduce electric utility emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 percent, or 128 trillion tons per year. Without our nuclear power plants, electric utility emissions of nitrogen oxides would be 2 million tons per year higher. Emissions of sulfur dioxide would be 5 million tons a year higher. Thus, nuclear energy has drastically cut our dependence on foreign imported oil.

In France for example, from 1980 to 1986, SO2 and NOX emissions in the electric power sector were reduced by 71% and 60% respectively, causing reductions of 56% and 9% respectively, in total SO2 and NOX emissions in France (Trudeau 160).

Nuclear energy also offers an alleviation of the global carbon dioxide (CO2) problem that the world can do without. About 1,600 million tons of CO2 annual emissions would have resulted if 16 percent of the world's electricity now generated by nuclear power were to have been generated using coal. This is a significant amount. In fact, it is 8 percent of CO2 now emitted annually from the burning of fossil fuels. Another important benefit that nuclear generated energy has on our environment is that the wastes produced are completely isolated from the environment. Would we have ...