Nuclear Warfare :: essays research papers fc

Nuclear Power Problems The effects caused by a atomic power accident, on the scale of the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl accident, must override any inclination to incline with advocates for atomic power. Su depone we have all heard the expression "Im only human". If we are indeed only human, and consequently inclined(predicate) to error, we could never perfectly manage and contain an energy as potentially destructive as that of nuclear power, without the possibility of a nuclear accident. Furthermore, the wastes generated by nuclear power, when inadvertently released during a nuclear power accident, have been proven to cause malignant diseases and premature death to those who come into contact with them. Additionally, the vegetation threat we rely on for survival is severely affected when radioactive elements are released into the air and water supply during a nuclear accident. Most alarming, however, is the fact that the general open is vastly unaware of its governments us e of nuclear waste in the development of nuclear weapon. Most of us can remember the bombing of Iwo Jima and the effects the bomb had on the lives of the millions of Japanese that lived within a twenty mile radius of the city. We can see what happened to the second generation children born with severe informities much(prenominal) as sixteen fingers and three arms children born with cancer and children with mental and physical handicaps. The radiation of a bomb doesnt always cause indorsement death, but it is a lingering experience. Japanese people, thought to be healthy, got cancer in later life, and had dis-formed children. Consequently, we must not be swayed by advocates urging us to further develop and expand nuclear power. We must, instead, examine the larger picture the risks associated with this potentially devastating power. The potential for human error causing a nuclear accident can be ascertained by considering the causes and effects of accidents that have already occurr ed. In 1952, at Chalk Rivers Nuclear Reactor, four checker pads were unintentionally removed, causing a partial melt downwardly of the reactors core. In 1957, a fire at the Windscale Pile No. 1 plant, sightly north of Liverpool, England, resulted in the contamination of 200 square miles of countryside when it was covered with radiation. In 1976, the core of the Lubmin nuclear plant in Greifswald, East Germany nearly melted down when safety systems failed during a fire. In 1979, the ever so famous, Three Mile Island reactor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lost coolant in one of its two reactors and a partial meltdown occurred on March 28, 1979.