Nuclear energy has long been a controversial issue. With accidents such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and the more recent complications caused by the earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima reactors in Japan, concern about the safety of nuclear energy has become a major issue. Much of this concern likely exists due to a lack of information and education about both radiation and its effects. I am convinced that nuclear energy is no less safe than any other form of power generation and can produce significant quantities of energy. Very few people truly understand how radiation works, or even what it means. When most people use radiation, they usually mean ionizing radiation, the type of radiation that causes electrons to leave the atom, ionizing it. Ionizing radiation, such as ultraviolet rays from the sun or X-rays, is harmful, but non-ionizing radiation is not. Some examples of non-ionizing radiation are visible light (the light you can see from the sun or a fire, for example) or FM radio waves. Although ionizing radiation is considered harmful, it is necessary to understand the concentration in which it is harmful. Even today there is no clear consensus on when the negative effects of radiation begin to appear. There are arguments that even the smallest amounts of radiation increase the risk of suffering adverse effects, while others argue that a certain level of exposure is required before the risk of adverse effects even has a chance of occurring. For example, can smoking just one cigarette give someone the chance of developing cancer? Or does the exposure have to be greater, something like a pack a week, to even begin to have a chance of getting cancer? The answer to this question is not easily determined... middle of paper... nuclear. I believe the benefits of nuclear energy outweigh the disadvantages, but only if proper precautions are taken, buildings are built to code and there are extensive emergency procedures outlined in advance. Works Cited Marshall, Brain and Lamb Robert. "How nuclear energy works." How things work. HowStuffWorks, Inc., nd Web. March 31, 2011 Raymond, Murray. Nuclear Energy, Sixth Edition: An Introduction to Nuclear Process Concepts, Systems, and Applications. 6th. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. Print.Bodansky, David. Nuclear energy: principles, practices and prospects. 2nd. Springer, 2004. Print.Editor, Gale. Nuclear energy (current controversies). Greenhaven Press, 2010. Print."Ten years after Chernobyl: what do we really know?" International Atomic Energy Agency. International Atomic Energy Agency, n.d. Web. 31 March 2011.