Construction and manufacture of nuclear stations should be allowed

                     Construction and manufacture of nuclear stations should be allowed

     In today’s world, the more the rate of technological progress advances, the greater the need for renewable, efficient and reliable energy resource becomes. Unfortunately, most of the common resources we use nowadays such as oil and coal are no longer dependable. Oil, for example, is an extremely limited supply of non-renewable energy resource, which takes millions of years to form and once depleted can no longer be used again. Coal which is another type of renewable energy emits a great amount of harmful waste such as carbon dioxide and acids that in turn lead to global warming. Nuclear power which is both long-lasting and environmentally friendly is the most appropriate substitute for coal and oil. With its durability of 150 years, low cost of running and absence of harmful emissions, nuclear power is indeed the only solution to growing needs of our planet. Therefore this is my belief that construction and manufacture of nuclear stations should be allowed.

      The first reason in support of manufacture of nuclear station is its low level of contamination of atmosphere. Nuclear power stations create no controlled air toxins, such as sulfur and particulates, or greenhouse gases. The use of nuclear energy instead of other energy resources preserves the Earth's climate, keeps the air clean, avoids ground-level ozone formation and prevents acid rains. Undeniably, of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment, including water, land, habitat, species, and air resources. According to statistics of the Energy Information Administration on January 4 2000, nuclear stations were responsible for reduction of nearly half of greenhouse gases in atmosphere. Additionally, each year, U.S. nuclear power plants prevent harmful elements such as 5.1 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 164 million tons of carbon from entering the earth's atmosphere. In other words, nuclear energy is the most "ecologically efficient" of all energy sources because it produces the most energy in relation to its minimal environmental impact.

     The second reason of construction of nuclear stations is its future long term economic benefits. With its low fuel costs compared to coal, oil and gas-fired plants, nuclear stations are truly a great solution to financial challenges when it comes to cost-effective investment in energy resources. According to the measurements of Energy Information Administration the total fuel costs of a nuclear power plant are typically about a third of those for a coal-fired plant and between a quarter and a fifth of those for a gas combined-cycle plant. That basically means that the countries where the construction of nuclear stations is encouraged are experiencing much more economic advantage compared to other countries where such an innovation was not implemented. For example, in USA states with nuclear stations, economic activity from the average nuclear plant generates approximately $430 million in total output (production of goods and services) and about $60 million in total labor income in the local economy. Additionally, nuclear stations are not only cost effective energy resources but are also beneficial to local communities in terms of creation of new, highly paid jobs. For example, each nuclear plant employs an average of approximately 500 employees from the local community and generates an additional 700 jobs in the local area. The average salary of employees at nuclear stations is approximately 82% higher than that of the average earnings in other states where nuclear stations were not introduced. Therefore, with the regards to the outlined economic advantages of nuclear stations it should be noted that nowadays nuclear power is much more efficient and ultimately less expensive than any other form of electricity generation.

       The third and the main reason in support of construction of nuclear stations is that nuclear Power plants produce tremendous energy supply unlike any other energy source. Such an extremely important advantage of nuclear stations refers to the basic characteristics of the substance from which energy is generated. The generation of energy from atomic stations occurs during the process of nuclear fission, the splitting of a heavy atom’s nucleus which releases great amounts of energy which is 10 million times greater than that which is released by the burning of an atom of fossil fuel. Additionally, it should be noted that in order for any other source of energy to be equivalent to such an output it would take million hectares of land covered with solar collectors, wind farms or hydro-electric dams to be equal to this power. Consequently, the output produced by nuclear stations produces enough electricity to power 750,000 to one million households and businesses in the United States.

     There are “Greenpeace” opponents of nuclear station building who might claim that we shouldn’t build those atomic stations since they have high probability of radiation and explosion. However they should take into account that Nuclear power is safe and even though there have been two serious accidents in Pennsylvania and Chernobyl, those were two “minor” incidents when compared to the rate of accidents which occurred in fossil fuel industries, coal mines and gas pipelines in last decade. For example, according to World Nuclear Association’s report on January of 2006, there were almost 234 major catastrophic explosions of coal mines which took the lives of approximately three hundred thousand skilled workers. Another statistics from Energy Information Association confirms that people who were employed in mining industries especially those who worked deep inside earth’s ground levels, were 15 times more exposed to the poisonous gases which in turn led to high probability of deaths. Therefore, it should be noted that properly build nuclear stations pose little threat if used and manufactured carefully.

    As we enter the new era of technological advances, our fuel and energy usage increases at a tremendous rate. This is a caution to us human beings that current natural resources of the earth we use nowadays are no longer reliable and efficient. Here is where nuclear energy comes. The nuclear energy is an energy which has three main benefits: environment safety, low cost of manufacture and what is more important remarkable amount of power which exceeds any other existing source of energy. Therefore, with all outlined reasons, the use of nuclear energy should be encouraged because of its outstanding economical, ecological and military advantages.