Clapp, Richard W. “Nuclear power and public health.” Environmental Health Perspectives 113.11 (2005): A720+. Environmental Studies and Policy Collection. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
This peer reviewed article shows a spike in interest of installing new nuclear plants nationwide due to the benefits of uranium powered energy being clean air. One of the quotes from MIT on mitigating CO2 emissions in electricity sums up the need to deploy more nuclear reactors nationwide:
“…four options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity: increasing efficiency, expanding renewable energy sources, capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering the carbon, and increasing use of nuclear power.”
The article also states that there is a new type of reactor that is “inherently safe”, a pebble bed modular reactor in South Africa pending approval for construction permits at the time of publication.
Since this article was written after 9/11, there is concern about the security of deploying nuclear plants worldwide as they act as a potential target for terrorists.
The article also states that we have learned our lessons from Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters and that the exposure of radiation to workers of the nuclear plants are insufficient.
“Given the availability of alternative carbon-free and low-carbon options and the potential to develop more efficient renewable technologies, it seems evident that public health would be better served in the long term by these alternatives than by increasing the number of nuclear power plants in the United States and the rest of the world. “
MIT. The Future of Nuclear Energy. Rep. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2003. Print.
This is a very comprehensive “interdisciplinary study” conducted in 2003 at MIT. After reading the summary of the study. As stated in the previous source I researched, MIT stated about the feasibility of deploying nuclear power:
““…four options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity: increasing efficiency, expanding renewable energy sources, capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering the carbon, and increasing use of nuclear power.”
This statement alone captures the essence that nuclear power is indeed helpful to working with the energy crisis. MIT cites four problems that need to be investigated; cost, safety, proliferation, and waste must be taken into account for large scale nuclear energy deployment.
The study states that nuclear plants can justify their challenges if they contribute significantly to reducing global warming.
The MIT study estimates that by 2050, 1500 more 1GW reactors will have signed on (we have 366 reactors world wide in service as of 2003)
Another critical thing to consider is the choice of fuel cycle, “what type of fuel is used, what types of reactors “burn” the fuel, and the method of disposal of the fuel”. This is evaluated in depth in the article.
“We believe that the world-wide supply of uranium ore is sufficient to fuel the deployment of 1,000 reactors over the next half century”. This is key as even though uranium is a nonrenewable source, we still have the resources to keep it feasible for the foreseeable future.
