The Ethics of Nuclear Power

Due May 10, 2010

Yixin Yang

Philosophy 3

Kaufman

The Ethics of Nuclear Power

8:15 AM, August 6, 1945 residents of the city of Hiroshima, Japan saw a bright flash of light said to be ten times brighter than the sun, a huge surge of heat, then, for many, nothing at all. In the days that followed, the nuclear fallout of the bomb spread radiation throughout the city, and sickened hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens. It is the fear of a nuclear explosion like this that prevents nuclear power plants from being built all over the United States. This fear has crippled the nuclear power industry in the United States. Because people are afraid, they believe that it is unethical to make people live near nuclear power plants because they would not want to live near one themselves. However, I believe that this is not true, and that it is unethical to suspend the construction of nuclear power plants in the United States because the general population has been scared into believing nuclear power is a bad thing.

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...

One of the main reasons that so many people oppose nuclear power is because they are misinformed. For example, many people believe that if they are tampered with, nuclear power plants will become an atomic bomb. Many are also afraid of potential terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants. This will not happen, and in fact, the worst case scenario, in which a meltdown occurs in the reactor, will not do that much harm. This is because in a modern reactor, the core is shielded with reinforced concrete which prevents radiation from leaking out. Those concrete barriers are also strong enough to easily withstand the force of an airliner crashing into it, so the fears about terrorists attacking nuclear power plants are...