Why is nuclear energy viewed negatively despite it’s advantages?
I’ve always been interested in the sciences and how they could be used to improve the lives of humans. Around 7 years ago I became fascinated with the idea of alternative energy sources, and eventually found out about nuclear energy, which contradicted the little bit of information I knew. All I had known was that it was used to create create the atomic bombs, so I viewed it as dangerous. However the more I looked into it, I realized that nuclear energy is revolutionary as long as it’s not subjected to the influence of the human condition, specifically morality and conflict. Intrigued by nuclear energy I learned of it’s advantages. While finite because of the uranium used for nuclear fuels, nuclear energy is extremely sustainable long term due to its high energy density and ability to sustain power for decades on end. It’s also better for the enviornment than other fossil fuels as nuclear power plants produce near zero carbion dioxide, or in other words greenhouse gasses, which pollute the air and affect the climate around the world. Nuclear energy is also extremely recyclable as over 90% of nuclear waste can be recycled, this in turn decreases the amount of nuclear waste and the radiotoxicity of it while also reducing the need for raw materials which helps with nuclear sustainability in the end.
In this proposal I plan to address the negative perception of nuclear energy, and explain its advantages and uses to have it appeal to more people, however there are still some aspects I wish to know more about. Firstly I’d like to research ways to make the already safe and secure power plants, even safer, as most accidents involving nuclear energy are usually the results of human error. It’d also be interesting to find a cost-efficient way to utilize nuclear fusion and fission in tandem if possible. While nuclear fusion produces less energy than fission, I believe finding a way to fully utilize both will improve the sustainability of nuclear energy immensely. Nuclear energy has also been used in outer space for decades now, however it has an opportunity to improve space travel which’ll be an interesting to find out more about.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/chernobyl-roulette-review-reckless-nuclear-endangerment-bc14ce3a?page=1
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/podcasts/the-daily/nuclear-energy.html?searchResultPosition=9
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/why-anti-wind-activists-suddenly-fell-in-love-with-the-right-whale-66291c3a?page=1
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I believe that your perception and topic of nuclear energy and it’s association with atomic bombs is something that has been trending so it’s very accessible to readers in current time. Your proposal is very insightful to the fear and negative concept of nuclear energy however, I think it may be a good idea to also write about media portrayal contributes to these fears and how historical events shape existing public opinion about your topic. I think you would find a few articles about this.
Nuclear energy does indeed have it’s pros, so while I do agree that its very insightful on talking about why its incredibly beneficial, I think it could be better if you addressed its problems as well.