We Need Nuclear Energy Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics

We Need atomic Energy Minutes ago, the lights flickered, went out briefly, snapped on again. It was a warning. The electricity would last only a few moments longer, and then we would be plunged into three hours of darkness. . . . For the third time today, by official edict, we are winning our turn without electricity. A miners strike has reduced coal stocks al intimately to the vanishing point, and most of Britains electricity comes from coal (Weaver, The Search . . ., 652). This could become a common point if the United States doesnt use other energy sources besides fossil fuels. atomic energy should continue to be used in the United States. Nuclear energy is produced in a nuclear reactor. Inside the reactor, uranium undergoes fission. nuclear fission occurs when a fast-moving neutron strikes a nucleus of uranium. The nucleus cannot take the extra neutron, so it splits apart, producing an enormous amount of heat. This takes place in the reactor core, which is surrounded by a large quantity of pressurized irrigate that absorbs the heat. This heat is transferred from this water to the water in a steam generator, where it boils water to steam. The steam turns turbines, which produces electricity (Macaulay, 174-9). The chief(prenominal) benefit of nuclear energy is the amount of energy within uranium. atomic number 53 kilogram of uranium produces 440,000 megajoules of energy. Coal produces a maximum of 30 megajoules, and naked oil produces 46 (Why . . . ). In other words, one confiscate of uranium can produce as much energy as 12,000 pounds of coal or 1,200 gallons of oil (Nuclear . . . ). A one cardinal kilowatt power station uses 2.3 million tons of coal for each one year. A one million kilowatt nuclear reactor, on the other hand, us... ...uclear Energy. Three mil Island Student Research Project. on-line Available http//www.ee.rochester.edu8080/programs/399Projects/TMIStudy/TMIPros.htm The Three Mile Island Accident. Three Mile Island Student Research Project. on-line Available http//www.ee.rochester.edu8080/programs/399Projects/TMIStudy/TMIIncident.html Weaver, Kenneth F. The Promise and menace of Nuclear Energy. National Geographic. April 1979. pp. 459-493. Weaver, Kenneth F. The Search For Tomorrows Power. National Geographic. November 1972. pp. 661-672. Why Uranium. Uranium selective information Centre. on-line Available http//www.uic.com.au/whyu.htm Young, Paulette. Average Price of Coal Delivered to Electric Utilities by nosecount Division and State, 1987, 1992-1996. on-line Available http//www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/cia/t92p01.txt