The Nuclear Option
With gas prices steadily rising and the frustrations created by the inequities of a world order based on oil interests, the question is: What's next? A couple of different sources suggest that the only mature technology that can replace fossil fuels is nuclear energy.
Nuclear fission is modern day alchemy and can convert small amounts of mass into immense amounts of energy (which might one day become more valuable than gold). Since nuclear proliferation seems inevitable & people will always have to live with the threat of nuclear war, it is only fair that we get some benefits from its better half (nuclear energy).
Several brave nations have already ventured forth and added nuclear energy to their energy portfolios (US: 20%; France: 75%; World: 17%). With energy demands increasing rapidly and limited fossil fuel resources, many developing countries are also being lured by the promise of nuclear energy. However, it is not clear if nuclear power is an economical option, particularly in the Third World. In addition, there is genuine concern that corruption and mismanagement in some countries might hamper the large investments needed for safe & efficient production of nuclear energy.
In the light of all this, our best hope out of the energy crisis might be to sit tight for cold fusion or the evolution of a superhuman race that is immune to radiation, whichever comes first.
Nuclear fission is modern day alchemy and can convert small amounts of mass into immense amounts of energy (which might one day become more valuable than gold). Since nuclear proliferation seems inevitable & people will always have to live with the threat of nuclear war, it is only fair that we get some benefits from its better half (nuclear energy).
The Pros:
1)The nuclear energy industry has been around for about a half century and have had opportunity to increase efficiency and lower safety risks
2)Nuclear fission is cleaner than combustion of hydrocarbons (though there is emission of CO2 during the mining of Uranium)
3)Abundance of nuclear fuel
4)Nuclear reactors can be used for hydrogen production for use in fuel cells
The Cons:
1)The problem of nuclear waste disposal, which can take about 500 hundred years to deactivate
2)The large investments, both in time(10 years) & money required to build nuclear plants, which means that energy production will always be in the control of governments & large corporations
3)Possible misuse of nuclear fuel in weapons
4)Human negligence in this area can lead to catastrophe. In the face of nuclear pollution, no country is an island . . .
Several brave nations have already ventured forth and added nuclear energy to their energy portfolios (US: 20%; France: 75%; World: 17%). With energy demands increasing rapidly and limited fossil fuel resources, many developing countries are also being lured by the promise of nuclear energy. However, it is not clear if nuclear power is an economical option, particularly in the Third World. In addition, there is genuine concern that corruption and mismanagement in some countries might hamper the large investments needed for safe & efficient production of nuclear energy.
In the light of all this, our best hope out of the energy crisis might be to sit tight for cold fusion or the evolution of a superhuman race that is immune to radiation, whichever comes first.
1 Comments:
Unlike most environmentalists that tout that green energy and renewables are the only way, I think nuclear is a step forward. Granted I would love for us to just go ahead and revamp the whole system in a day and change the infrastructure to wind, solar, hydro, switch grass, and even fuel cells. But I think that is a very long way away. So in the meantime, nuclear seems to be a very good solution. There is another problem, the exhaust heat that was not mentioned. Nuclear often times contributes to the raising temperature of local water sources which disrupts the ecological habitats (algae blooms and dead fish are two problems). But I think we'd be killing ourselves a lot slower than putting the poison into the air that we do now. Just think, we could replace the dirty, odorless air, with clean, dead fish smelling air (joking).
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