As the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster approaches, nuclear power has become a very popular topic in world news! Kuwait, in a reaction caused by the Fukushima incident, has decided to abandon its nuclear power program; although, a year ago it was planning on creating at least 4 new reactors by 2012! Canadians seem to have mixed feelings about nuclear power, but have chosen to continue with their nuclear power program. The Japanese have decided this incident was a cue for their government to take a more active role in policing of nuclear power and regulation.
Many energy engineers and nuclear engineers have seen the Fukushima as a major opportunity. Many countries (including the US) have largely ignored nuclear power in recent decades, neither expanding nor shrinking the nuclear industry in their respective countries. Nuclear engineers agree that this has caused a lot of negative publicity for the nuclear industry, but it has shoved nuclear power back under world focus, something that hasn't occurred in quite some time.
The benefits of nuclear power has also remained a very interesting topic and I'm really glad I've decided to take my project in this new direction. Something that I read recently that I thought was really interesting was nuclear power can cause danger to humans , but the decay of nuclear atoms causes NO danger to the surrounding ecosystems! I thought that was really interesting, because when I think decay of nuclear elements, I think of the surrounding areas as being somewhat like a wasteland! Uranium is extremely abundant in the earth's crust. Also, the cost of nuclear fuel is a small part of the total reaction, so prices would not be as high or as easily changed as those of natural gas!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
More News About Nuclear Power!
I've continued reading about why nuclear power can be a good thing, and it has continued to be a very interesting topic. I know there is a lot of criticism of nuclear power, however I think that a lot of that is blown out of proportion and/or undeserved.
On a slightly more dramatic note, Iran has manufactured its own nuclear power rods after failing to make an agreement with the West for more rods from Argentina. It plans to load these new rods into its reactor in Tehran today. Many people are concerned about Iran having the technology and knowledge to make its own nuclear power rods, but what is done is done and the world has not yet seen how this conflict will resolve itself.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E8DF1J120120215
Also, in Michigan, a nuclear power plant is to be shut down. Nuclear safety is a large concern in the US and all power plants are put into a safety category ranging 1 through 5. The plant in question was in category number 1 (the safest category) until last month when it was downgraded to category 2. It has now reached a safety level of category 3 and will be shut down before its safety can become more questionable.There is only one nuclear power plant below the safety of category 3 (Browns Ferry Unit 1 near Athens, Ala.in category 4) and only two other plants are in safety category 3.
http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-14/news/31059879_1_palisades-spokesman-mark-savage-safety-performance-palisades-nuclear-power-plant
On a slightly more dramatic note, Iran has manufactured its own nuclear power rods after failing to make an agreement with the West for more rods from Argentina. It plans to load these new rods into its reactor in Tehran today. Many people are concerned about Iran having the technology and knowledge to make its own nuclear power rods, but what is done is done and the world has not yet seen how this conflict will resolve itself.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E8DF1J120120215
Also, in Michigan, a nuclear power plant is to be shut down. Nuclear safety is a large concern in the US and all power plants are put into a safety category ranging 1 through 5. The plant in question was in category number 1 (the safest category) until last month when it was downgraded to category 2. It has now reached a safety level of category 3 and will be shut down before its safety can become more questionable.There is only one nuclear power plant below the safety of category 3 (Browns Ferry Unit 1 near Athens, Ala.in category 4) and only two other plants are in safety category 3.
http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-14/news/31059879_1_palisades-spokesman-mark-savage-safety-performance-palisades-nuclear-power-plant
Thursday, February 9, 2012
New Nuclear Power Plant in the US has been approved!
It's been an extremely exciting day! I talked to Ms. Jones' AP Environmental Science class about my project today which was kind of scary at first, but it was definitely really cool!
Also, just a few hours ago, a new nuclear power plant was approved in the US for the first time since 1978 (34 years ago)!
I think that it's so cool that this happened while I'm working on my project! This is the link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-02-09/us-nuclear-reactors-approve/53027204/1
I think that it's so cool that this happened while I'm working on my project! This is the link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-02-09/us-nuclear-reactors-approve/53027204/1
Monday, February 6, 2012
2/6/2012
This week I'm going to be talking to Mrs. Jones' AP Environmental Science class about energy. They've just finished their nuclear power unit and are about to start studying alternative energy. Obviously, I'm really excited about that, and I'll let you know how it goes.
I'm also going to focus my project on the benefits of nuclear power from now on. It seems really interesting. I've also continued reading about nuclear power and watched some videos about how it can help our society. I'm hoping to go to Addlestone tomorrow to try to get some more materials on the benefits of nuclear power!
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