Nuclear Stigmatism

Abstract

With many more countries becoming more industrialized comes the added burden of more carbon dioxide. Countries such as China are extremely dependant on fossil fuel based energy. Here too in the United States, the primary sources for power are fossil fuel based. A new nuclear power facility has not been built since 1997 in the United States. Why is this? This paper will briefly discuss why, and what the stigma of nuclear energy is.

THE ADVENT OF NUCLEAR POWER

On June 27, 1954, the USSR built the first reactor for powering up an electrical system. The reactor produced 5 megawatts (electrical), enough to power 2,000 homes. In 1957, the United States followed suit by adding its first nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania. The United States currently operates 104 nuclear power stations throughout the country. They are operating at 100% capacity, and more new, more efficient models need to be built. (Hagen, R. (n.d.). Nuclear Power: 12 percent of America’s Generating Capacity, 20 percent of the Electricity. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/analysis/nuclearpower.html)

Despite this fact, the United States has not commissioned a new reactor since 1997. The main reason is the opponents to nuclear power. The “not in my backyard” people fight against the building of new power plants. They cite the safety problems at some of the oldest plants, as well as past problems.

Some of these people say that if a reactor exploded, it would be like a nuclear bomb going off. This is not true. In fact, according to Thinkquest, “This is not true because in order for an uncontrolled chain reaction to occur that is similar to an atom bomb, the uranium fuel must be extremely enriched, much more than the 4% 235U that is present in regular, commercial nuclear reactor fuel.” (Nuclear Disasters and Accidents (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2007, from http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_disasters/nuclear_disasters.html). The real problem would be a meltdown, which is what the naysayers also point to.

To date there has been two well-known nuclear accidents. One such incident was at our very own Three Mile Island. As stated by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979, was the most serious in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community.” (Fact Sheet on the Three Mile Island Accident (2004, March). Retrieved May 23, 2007, from http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html). This accident stirred public outcry to end nuclear power. There were protest and hearings into what happened, why, and as to the long-term effects. Since the meltdown at this plant, the reactor has been cleaned up, and permanently decommissioned. Many analysts feel that one more such incident like this in the United States will stir public outcry to close all remaining plants.

The second such incident was much worse. This one happened at Chernobyl. The Chernobyl disaster was a major accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 a.m. The power plant is located near Pripyat, Ukraine. An explosion at the plant was followed by radioactive contamination of the surrounding geographic area.

It was the worst accident ever in the history of nuclear power. A plume of radioactive fallout drifted over parts of the Western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern