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Sooksatan 2
Silvan Sooksatan
English 8V - Period 2
Mr. Johnston
December 17, 2012
Nuclear Energy
According to the Institute for Energy Research 82% percent of America's energy consumption are fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas, leaving only 18% of other clean sources in the dust (Institute for Energy Research). Fossil fuels are leaving great hole in both our environment and our wallets. They release greenhouse gasses into our ecosystem and because there is such a demand of energy, Americans are paying hundreds of dollars to pollute earth (Henderson). America's reliance on toxic fossil fuel is growing stronger and scientists have yet to find a permanent solution to our energy crisis; fortunately some experts have found their resolution in nuclear energy, but with a controversial past and some major problems to still be resolved, is it worth it?
When a person hears the word nuclear all he or she thinks of is the problems and disaster it has caused, but few have bothered to look how well modern technology has improved nuclear energy's safety and its effect on the environment.
English: Nuclear power plant in Cattenom, France D...
The control room at a U.S. nuclear power plant.
English: This graph illustrates the potential rise...Compared to the fossil fuels used today, nuclear power is cleaner, more reliable, and safer to obtain. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into earth's atmosphere which can result in acid rain and smog. They are the biggest contributor to global warming which will eventually melt our glaciers and harm our ecosystem (Haney 6). In the US two-thirds of our electricity is produced by fossil fuels but it is at a limited supply and may not last too long. On the other hand nuclear energy is believed to be a sustainable energy which means that it is a source that minimizes pollution to the environment and is not likely to run out (Haney 12). Fossil fuels like coal...