Energy Sources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Energy Sources - Essay Example Surprisingly enough, the number of supporters of this source of energy was still high among the American participants of the McRumours forum that discussed the pros/cons of the nuclear energy use a few days after the Fukushima disaster.Apart from financial benefits, it is often said that nuclear power is environmentally friendly. For example, Steven Kerekesfrom the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute believes that nuclear power generation plays a prominent role in the reduction of carbon emissions around the world. However, the arguments in favor of the nuclear energy use seem lame if one considers the arguments against it.The financial benefits are evidently outweighed by health risks associated with dealing with nuclear power waste and meltdown. While a generation of power seems relatively clean if compared to fossil fuels, the by-products need to be stored for hundreds of years in secluded facilities, some of which are situated â€Å"deep inside the mountains†. Given the fact tha t high-level radioactive waste has to be kept for hundreds of thousands of years till it is recognized safe to be released into the environment, opponents of nuclear waste rightfully contend that in reality there does not exist a place in the world which is truly safe. Indeed, as Jim Riccio, Nuclear Energy Campaign Director for Greenpeace, says â€Å"nothing you put the waste in will last longer than the waste itself, so burying it basically acquiesces to the fact that it will eventually leak†¦.just like every other radioactive dump site.†... participants of the McRumours forum that discussed the pros/cons of the nuclear energy use a few days after the Fukushima disaster (â€Å"McRumors Forum†, 2011, [online]).Apart from financial benefits, it is often said that nuclear power is environmentally friendly. For example, Steven Kerekesfrom the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute believes that nuclear power generation plays a prominent role in reduction of carbon emissions around the world. It does not affect the climate, therefore it is quite clean and safe, Kerekes said in his interview to Earth Techling back in 2010 (DeFreitas, 2010, [online]). However, the arguments in favor of the nuclear energy use seem lame if one considers the arguments against it.The financial benefits are evidently outweighed by health risks associated with dealing with nuclear power waste and meltdown. While generation of power seems relatively clean if compared to fossil fuels, the byproducts need to be stored for hundreds of years in secluded fac ilities, some of which are situated â€Å"deep inside the mountains† (â€Å"Nuclear Power: Risks and Rewards†, 2012, [online]). Given the fact that high-level radioactive waste has to be kept for hundreds of thousands of years till it is recognized safe to be released into the environment, opponents of nuclear waste rightfully contend that in reality there does not exist a place in the world which is truly safe. Indeed, as Jim Riccio, Nuclear Energy Campaign Director for Greenpeace, says â€Å"nothing you put the waste in will last longer than the waste itself, so burying it basically acquiesces to the fact that it will eventually leak†¦.just like every other radioactive dump site.† (DeFreitas, 2010, [online]). Apart from this, the aftermaths of nuclear accidents that occasionally happen throughout