 Electricity powers everything we know, but people never really think where or how their power is actually produced.  Power stations are rarely seen or thought about.  What actually powers these power stations is important.  Our entire infrastructure depends on the power that runs it.  Current power plants are becoming non-sustainable and release tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere which many argue is directly related to global warming.  Carbon-free electricity is becoming a necessity to sustain our economy and the environment.  Renewable energy is most certainly needed to keep up with the growing demand of power around the globe. Nuclear energy is a sustainable carbon free form of energy that should be utilized.  Nuclear energy has the potential to become the main source of power in the world.  Nuclear energy is the answer to the current energy crisis because it's highly efficient, carbon free, and sustainable.  

Nuclear energy is created by a process known as nuclear fission.  Nuclear fission works by shooting a high speed neutron at a uranium atom which causes it to split creating a large amount of energy (Lamb).  The key to this process is that a chain reaction must be created. Creating the reaction allows the process to happen continuously without further help.  The energy that is created is then channeled into a pool of water that creates steam. Pressure rises pushing the steam through a turbine generator that creates electricity (Lamb). 

Nuclear energy ranks the highest among carbon free energy in efficiency.  According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, nuclear reactors in the United States posted a 91.9% efficiency rating in 2014 with some receiving over a 100% efficiency.  This rating was a record high for the United States, and making nuclear reactors the most efficient compared to other forms of carbon free energy.  With growing populations comes growing demand for power.  Due to Nuclear energy's high efficiency fewer power plants will need to be created over time to meet this demand.  In comparison, less efficient forms of energy like wind will need to be greater in number to create the amount of energy needed to support the demand.  

According to research done at Northwestern University, solar panels can only convert 22% of solar energy into useable electricity.  This is far too inefficient for solar energy to be the solution to the growing demand for energy.  Wind turbines post a 40% efficiency rating when weather conditions are perfect (Department of Energy).  When wind moves exactly 9 meters per second or about 20 mph, that's when you reach that efficiency rating. Weather's unpredictability means that reliance on wind power is not a reasonable policy.  Nuclear power is the only current renewable carbon free energy form that can consistently produce power day and night because some days have no wind and there is no sun at night, wind and solar power are inferior alternatives to Nuclear energy.  Nuclear energy provides the best output of efficient power possible. 

Nuclear energy is carbon free.  Therefore, it does not affect the atmosphere.  Keeping carbon emissions as low as possible has been a priority for environmentalist for years.  Because reactors are completely carbon free, Nuclear energy allows for a new power grid from increasing carbon emissions.  Nuclear reactors create clean energy that doesn't seriously affect the atmosphere like most current power stations. The current environmental crisis came about because burning fossil fuels for power is not sustainable.  Unlike the creation process for Nuclear energy, fossil fuels are directly burned.  This creates heat that makes steam in the reservoir which powers the turbine. This burning process creates harsh gases that are then emitted into our atmosphere even though power plants are monitored.  These large amounts of carbon entering the atmosphere helps shape what is called the "greenhouse effect."   This effect is currently changing weather patterns around the globe because the Earth is slowly getting hotter every year. This has already created a large loss of environmental habitats.  The ocean is rising every year as glaciers at the poles continue to melt.  In comparison, nuclear power plants create no adverse effects on surrounding environments.  Water, habitats, and surrounding land are unaffected by the power plant's operation.  Along with that comes the ever decreasing pool of usable fossil fuels.  The Earth has a limited amount of fossil fuels in it.  It takes millions of years for them to be created from fossils. 

As our resources decrease, renewable clean energy becomes of quite greater importance. Nuclear energy is renewable because a process has been created to recycle spent nuclear rods. Spent rods were originally stored as nuclear waste which can be harmful to people.  The new recycling process allows for up to 30% additional energy from each rod (World Nuclear Association).  The process works by recycling the Uranium-238 contained in the rod and converting it into Plutonium which can also be burned in nuclear reactors.  Plutonium is not an element that is found in nature but it produced in the recycling process.  This allows for waste to be cut dramatically.  Researchers are currently working on creating a new core that can burn spent fuel rods altogether without the process of recycling the rods.  Reprocessing closes the fuel cycle by making the rods recyclable creating a sustaining process that makes carbon free energy. Closing the cycle allows for reactors to be sustainable on a renewable energy source. 

Nuclear energy is cheaper to sustain than current electrical power plants.  Current plants are afflicted by fluctuation in costs of natural gas and crude oil.  One of nuclear science's leading researchers found that electron fission produces 60,000,000 times more energy than the burning of carbon atoms at fossil fuel burning stations (Kazimi). This means that 28 grams of (?) produces the same amount of energy as 100 metric tons of coal.  This is a large difference in cost for fuel between the two types of plants.

Nuclear power stations also produce energy at a lower cost.  Large costs are only an issue in setting up the plant.  Startup costs of a new power plant are high but costs to maintain them are low.  If uranium fuel costs do rise, the rise in price for electricity would be less than that of a change for fuel costs for fossil fuels.  Nuclear reactors can last up to 60 years and if the power company invested the same amount as the initial startup costs there would be no issue with keeping the plant running forward (Opposing View Points).  

Nuclear power has several economic benefits to its credit.  The average power plant in the United States creates $453 million in sales yearly (NEI).  Analysis done by the Nuclear Energy Institute has shown the every dollar a power plant spends results in $1.04 for the surrounding community, $1.18 for the state economy, and $1.87 for the nation's economy.  The average plant creates $16 million in state and local taxes and $67 million in federal taxes annually (NEI). 

Power plants also create jobs. Construction of a plant typically takes 5-10 years (NEI).  At peak construction time as many as 3,500 workers will be needed.  The plant itself when completed will need about 550 jobs.  The construction project itself creates jobs for skilled workers like masons, carpenters, and electricians.  Plant creation, though needing a large investment, creates a boom for local economies.  Nuclear plants have the ability to boost economies both in the local area and statewide.  In the State of Illinois the 6 plants created $9 billion dollars for the state's economy while providing nearly half of all power in the state (NEI). It also hold more than 28,000 primary and secondary jobs which on average pay up to 33% more than average jobs in the area.  Additionally, when the polar vortex hit Illinois in the winter of 2014, harsh cold temperatures caused several power fossil fuel based plants to be inoperable simply because fuel wasn't obtainable for their operation.   By comparison, the nuclear plants all stayed consistently operational.   Reactors can have years of fuel contained within the reactor allowing for them to remain operational (NEI). 

Opponents of nuclear power plants claim it to far too expensive to be feasible.  Nuclear power plants do cost upwards of $10 billion to build a plant (Gigoam).  While the plant itself is a large investment, the long term profit margin is high.  President Obama pledged $54 billion dollars to build the US' first plants in 3 decades (Gigoam).  The long run plants have been statistically proven to stimulate economies.  If all $54 billion were spent to build 5 plants based on average cost, each plant would boost the economy $9 billion dollars.  All of the plants after two years would earn $37 billion dollars more than the original investment.  

President Obama was able to get Bipartisan support for his pledge in the form of the federal loan guarantees.  The members of both parties believe the loans are well spent discretionary federal dollars.  White House press releases have also shown that President Obama believes, "Nuclear energy remains a vibrant component of United States' clean energy strategy" (whitehouse.gov).  President Obama shows his continued support on nuclear energy believing it to be the future of energy in the country.  Donald Trump, leading republican candidate, has also been quoted as saying he is, "very strongly in favor of" nuclear energy.  Both parties show support that future energy need will be met by continued building of nuclear power reactors. 

Nuclear meltdowns are a risk of having nuclear power.  The three famous meltdowns in history are Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima.  Chernobyl is the nuclear plant meltdown that caused casualties due to radiation.  Chernobyl was doomed from the beginning because the plant featured reactors with several design flaws made in Soviet Russia (PBS). Workers also committed egregious human errors.  Engineers with no knowledge of how the reactor worked decided to try an experiment where they run electricity directly from a reactor to water pumps to idle the turbine at 2.5% power (PBS).   When the experiment was started late the turbine was powered down to fast causing bi-products of the reaction to build up poisoning the reaction.  The deputy chief engineer then broke several safety regulations to try and stabilize the reactor so he could continue his experiment.  This breaking of the safety regulations along with the design flaws of the plant led to the eventual explosion at the reactor.  Human ignorance caused this accident.  The design of those reactors also were never used again.  No reactors in the United States are designed like those reactors.  All safety procedures and protocols should have been followed so the reactor wouldn't explode.  Scientists are certain that an accident of that kind will never again happen. 

Three Mile Island was a partial meltdown of a nuclear power core.  When there was an electrical failure on of the non-nuclear areas of the plant the turbine and the core itself automatically shut down.  This caused a buildup of pressure to occur in the core (NRC).  The relief valve was opened to relieve the pressure.  When the valve was stuck open, the control panel at the plant indicated the valve was closed.  The core started to undergo a loss of coolant.  This loss of coolant lead to the core melting down.  The building that contained the reactor stayed completely intact.  The structure shielded most of the radioactive release.  Studies have shown there was no effect on the surrounding environment or workers.  The Three Mile Island accident was rated as the worst commercial accident on US soil.  Changes in regulations and operator training were amended to make sure it wouldn't happen again.  The U.S. has proven to take extreme precautions to prevent a nuclear meltdown.  

In 2011, a tsunami caused by an earthquake hit a power plant on the coast of Japan. Cooling pumps for power cores became damaged causing three cores to meltdown (WNA).  It took three days to stabilize the cores.  Due to radiation being released 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes. No cases or deaths from radiation sickness were ever reported. The people have been allowed to return to their homes as no lingering radioactivity was reported. In times of serious unpredictable events correct precautions were taken to shut down the cores and eventually allow the people to return to their homes. 

Statistics also show that these three meltdowns are the only nuclear meltdowns in 16,000 reactor years across 33 countries (WNA).  Making it statistically unlikely another meltdown would occur.  Hundreds of reactors around the globe run smoothly for years without any problems occurring. The US is fully prepared to take on more nuclear power plants in America. All training is done carefully and seriously along with the following of safety precautions.  In times of such emergency, current regulations have shown that they can be dealt with effectively with as little radiation release as possible.

Environmentalists claim that reactors leak radioactivity.  In the process in the creation of those reactors, all reactors were certified to make sure that they are completely leak free.  All disposal of nuclear waste is closely monitored by government agencies to make sure waste is taken care of legally.  The only chance of radioactivity leaking is when power rods are being installed.  The chance is a quite small and negligible in the grand scheme of operations.  Nuclear waste is the serious issue.  Storage structures containing the spent rods have been expertly designed to now allow a radiation leak.  For nuclear power plants to acquire radioactive materials several licenses and notices must be made to make sure that any all radioactive materials accounted for and secure during travel to their destination. 

The United States has shown a complete commitment to move forward with plans to increase nuclear powered electricity.  Loans have been finalized with complete guarantee of them.  All of the current presidential candidates, with the exception of Bernie Sanders, are all in favor of nuclear energy moving forward.  Regulations created by federal agencies are closely monitored by those agencies to affirm safety at all times.  Designs have been solidified and tested to prove the plants' operational safety based on the incidents at Three Mile Island and Fukushima, Japan.  Our country is making efforts to increase our standing in nuclear energy.  The government is fully supporting construction of reactors for the first time in decades.  Nuclear energy is carbon free and nearly renewable.  It's highly regulated making it very safe and provides large boosts in local economies as well income tax dollars.  The world crisis of global warming means that nuclear power plants have the potential to reduce the United States' carbon emissions and financial costs.  Creation of new plants along with continued research to improve future reactors make nuclear power provide hope for improving our future.

