Nuclear Power Essays (1313 words) - Nuclear Technology,

Nuclear Power We use many sources of energy. One of our major sources is oil. Oil has been around for a long time. It is used in lamps, and it is refined into gas. Plastic products are also made from oil. From the 1900s and up oil has been used mostly in cars and boats. Oil is the most used natural resource we use (ChemCom 155). It is used the most because it is easy to find. The next most used source is nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants started to emerge in the 1950s. Russia had the first power plant (Keeler 39). Nuclear power plants are safe and very clean. Nuclear power is also very efficient. For every one million people in a city a nuclear power plant only needs 3 kilograms of uranium (Keeler 39). The third power source is natural gas. Natural gas is used in many household products. The main product in the house is the furnace. Practically all home furnaces run on natural gas. The second thing in the house that could be run by natural gas is the stove and oven. Many homes have gas burners and gas stoves , but there are some homes that use electricity for the stove and oven. The next product is water heaters. Water heaters burn natural gas to heat water. The main reason we use oil so much is because it is used in many things we use. Oil is used in cars, and it is refined into gasoline. The most important reason we use oil so much is because it is cheap. We used coal because it was easy to get. Coal also burned for a long time. Since coal was easy to get it was sold for a very cheap price. We use nuclear power because it is clean and it produces large amounts of energy. Natural gas is the same it burns clean when it produces energy. The effects of the energy we use now are terrible. When oil is burned it produces many harmful chemicals ( ChemCom 155). These chemicals include , carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Both of these chemicals pollute and are harmful to people. Oil is a non-renewable rsource, Oil will start to get harder and harder to find. The oil will be expensive to find and expensive to buy. Present day sources of oil will be gone in a little over 60 years (Discovery channel, Beyond 2000). Coal is already practically gone, They dont use it because it costs too much to mine and doesnt produce enough energy to make up for the price paid to mine. Natural gas is clean and efficient. Right now there is a lot of natural gas, but it still is not renewable. That isnt enough to produce the energy made by oil or nuclear energy. Examples of energy alternatives , such as wind mills have been around for centuries. In the 1600s and 1700s wind mills were used to pump water and crush grain. At the end of the 1800s , 6 ? million farms has windmills ( keeler, 69). Now todays windmills dont pump water or crush grain, they spin turbines. Ever since the oil embargo in the 70s people have been looking for energy alternatives. Wind power is very efficient and clean. It doesnt pollute at all (Keeler , 69 ). Since technology keeps getting better, wind power gets better also. Now the most modern wind mill can generate 2500 kilowatts of energy at speeds of 45 miles an hour ( Keeler ,69). If wind get too high the wind mill shuts down automatically. Solar energy is another non polluting energy alernative. Solar energy is collected by the sun from photovallic panels ( Keeler ,69). There are many test sites for solar panels. But they are located on the desert. The electric car is the most popular energy altenative. They have started appearing in california and some other states. Electric cars have gbeen around since 1908 Studabaker automobiles produced the first electric car ( New York Times p. 5bt ), but the car died out because gas powered cars could go faster and farther that the electric car. Now electric cars can go over