Aaron Orozco

Harkins

English III

13 November 2006

Going Nuclear: Good?

Imagine our world generations from now consumed by radiation. The people

suffer from the diseases from radiation. The balanced ecosystem that once thrived now

lies desolate. Imagine our only home which we humans have inhabited for centuries

become inhospitable. This future is far from bright and is only a sample of the many

deadly fruits from the deceiving tree of nuclear energy. Sadly, nuclear energy still

progresses and thrives on the lack of awareness of its dangers.

One common misconception is that using nuclear energy saves money and

benefits the economy. In a perfect world, this would be true, however this is the real

world, and there are many high costs hidden behind the exaggerated “benefits”. The

disposal of waste and the decommissioning of nuclear plants are the most money

leaching processes that plague nuclear energy, and have no place in any country’s

economy. For example, from the article “Nuclear Power is Not a Solution to Global

Warming” by Friends of The Earth Scotland, the cost of removing nuclear waste in the

UK averages to about 70 billion dollars. Does nuclear energy still sound good for the

economy? Also consider the price of CO2 reduction. From the same article, in a 1995

study in the UK, the government recognized nuclear energy as the worst method of

reducing Co2 emissions as well as generating power.

 Another issue is the threat against life nuclear power poses. Form the article

mentioned earlier, in a study from 1997 in the U.S., 14,095workers from the Oak Ridge

National Laboratory were examined for health and mortality rate. The study discovered a

relationship between cancer mortality and low-level radiation that the worker where

exposed to; at the time, low-level radiation exposure was considered harmless.

Furthermore, nuclear waste not only is expensive to dispose, it also remains toxic

for many years, even centuries. If we were to continue using nuclear power, space will

run out, and will complicate the lives of the people and the ecosystem. The belief that

nuclear power will satisfy energy needs is morbid and should be reconsidered before we

continue to build more of these disasters waiting to happen.

We cannot just sweep this issue under the rug, energy is important and we must

take control of how we obtain it. As the Friends of the Earth Scotland warn, “…

radioactive contamination is no respecter of national borders and nuclear power plants

threaten the health and well-being of all surrounding nations and environments”, so for

the sake of all life, lets take control of how we obtain our energy, so we do not make the

fatal choice to place our future in the grim hands of nuclear power.