Nuclear Energy Is the Future
Nuclear Energy is the Future
An Argumentative essay
Presented to
Dr. Marianne Jennifer M. Gaerlan
Department of English and Applied Linguistics
De La Salle University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for
ENGLCOM
Term 2, AY 2011-2012
09 December 2011
Do you believe that something small can power a country? A pound of Uranium has the capacity to produce the same amount of energy of 3 million pounds of fossil fuel. That 's how powerful nuclear energy is, generating so much from so little unlike our common source of energy today namely fossil fuel. That is why nuclear energy is the best alternative source of energy to fossil fuel. Even thought there are hearsays that nuclear energy isn 't safe as the use of fossil fuels, there are advantages of nuclear energy that outweighs the disadvantages and actions that solves some problems with nuclear energy today and in the future. Some of the advantages and actions include a more efficient way in production electricity, an ongoing project to improve safety of nuclear energy, and a cleaner production of electricity. As evidence, some countries have already started using nuclear energy as their main source of electricity like France and Lithuania. In this era, about more than 50% of our energy comes from fossil fuels which include coals, petroleum, natural gas, etc. However, in the steady decline of fossil fuels, we have at least the next 20 years till our oil, coal, and natural gas reserves are all depleted away according to Laer (2010)... So what would be a great solution to our energy crisis which can match the output of fossil fuels? The answer is nuclear energy. From the first sentence of the essay, we see that a pound of Uranium is equivalent to 3 million pounds of fossil fuel to generate electricity. In simpler terms, an atom of Uranium-235 has the capacity to make about 200 MeV (million electron volts), and if it releases that much energy in an atom, a pound full of Uranium-235 atom has
An Argumentative essay
Presented to
Dr. Marianne Jennifer M. Gaerlan
Department of English and Applied Linguistics
De La Salle University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for
ENGLCOM
Term 2, AY 2011-2012
09 December 2011
Do you believe that something small can power a country? A pound of Uranium has the capacity to produce the same amount of energy of 3 million pounds of fossil fuel. That 's how powerful nuclear energy is, generating so much from so little unlike our common source of energy today namely fossil fuel. That is why nuclear energy is the best alternative source of energy to fossil fuel. Even thought there are hearsays that nuclear energy isn 't safe as the use of fossil fuels, there are advantages of nuclear energy that outweighs the disadvantages and actions that solves some problems with nuclear energy today and in the future. Some of the advantages and actions include a more efficient way in production electricity, an ongoing project to improve safety of nuclear energy, and a cleaner production of electricity. As evidence, some countries have already started using nuclear energy as their main source of electricity like France and Lithuania. In this era, about more than 50% of our energy comes from fossil fuels which include coals, petroleum, natural gas, etc. However, in the steady decline of fossil fuels, we have at least the next 20 years till our oil, coal, and natural gas reserves are all depleted away according to Laer (2010)... So what would be a great solution to our energy crisis which can match the output of fossil fuels? The answer is nuclear energy. From the first sentence of the essay, we see that a pound of Uranium is equivalent to 3 million pounds of fossil fuel to generate electricity. In simpler terms, an atom of Uranium-235 has the capacity to make about 200 MeV (million electron volts), and if it releases that much energy in an atom, a pound full of Uranium-235 atom has
References: Laer R.V. (2010) Peak Uncertainty, When Will We Run Out Of Fossil Fuels? , from http://www.science20.com/absentminded_professor/peak_uncertainty_when_will_we_run_out_fossil_fuels-70294 Lamb R. & Brian M. (2000), How Nuclear Power Works, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm Biello, D. (2009) Spent Nuclear Fuel: A Trash Heap Deadly for 250,000 Years or a Renewable Energy Source?, from www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nuclear-waste-lethal-trash-or-renewable-energy-source Lake, J.A., Bennett R.G., & Kotek J.F., (2009), Next Generation Nuclear Power, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=next-generation-nuclear Biello, D. (2009) Reactivating Nuclear Reactors for the Fight against Climate Change from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reactivating-nuclear-reactors-to-fight-climate-change