Topic > Nuclear Energy: The Future of Humanity's Energy Source

IndexIntroductionAdvantages of Nuclear EnergyConclusionIntroductionIn the last century, man has become innovative and invented very strong and reliable energy; this is nuclear energy. At the beginning of the 21st century, man used nuclear energy to build nuclear bombs especially during the Second World War and the latter was used to generate electricity which was insufficient and in high demand. This energy proved to be of great importance but also, it was a disaster for the human race. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAdvantages of Nuclear EnergyNuclear energy is the splitting of radioactive isotopes of certain elements such as uranium and plutonium. These elements produce nuclear energy which, in the case of electricity production, this energy is used to heat water into steam which in turn rotates turbines to produce electricity. This technology was initially developed in the 1940s during World War II and was used to build atomic bombs such as those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Blix 1989). Subsequently in 1959 it was used for peaceful reasons in the production of electricity. Currently, most of the world's electricity is produced by this method compared to other sources of electricity, especially in developed countries such as the United States (Baker 2015). The rise of a cheap and reliable source of energy has increased in the recent past and many countries have opted for nuclear energy. This ensured an abundant supply of electricity to its consumers due to population growth. Many developed countries such as Ukraine, China and Japan have built these nuclear power plants to meet their electricity demand. This helped ensure that places such as urban areas were well supplied with electricity. Nuclear energy has evidently proven to be of great importance to man and his environment. This is because it provides relatively low electricity costs. This type of energy is very economical as it uses very few resources to produce huge amounts of energy. Although the initial construction cost is high, it has proven to be economical after completion of the plants as it provides enough electricity to meet the demand compared to other sources of electricity (Blix 1989). Furthermore, this type of energy has a stable base load energy cost. This is because it can be reduced or increased depending on whether other sources of electricity such as wind and solar are abundant or not. This helps meet demand when other sources are in excess or insufficient. However, nuclear energy has low environmental pollution. This is because during the production of this energy there is no emission of carbon atoms into the environment, therefore it is very environmentally friendly (McIntyre1978). Furthermore, this type of energy source is very flexible since greener elements such as thorium can be used which has minimal pollution and is also less harmful. This makes it a better energy source than other energy sources. Furthermore, this type of power produces a very high energy density. This is where the energy released during nuclear fission is very high compared to other energy sources, so it is preferable to other energy sources (Baker 2015). Although this method has proven to be of great importance, various disadvantages have also proven to be of great importance. To begin with, in case an accident occurs, radioactive compounds which are very radioactive cause harm to the environment and humans. This kind of.