Why I Still Support Nuclear Power, Even After Fukushima: Article Analysis Essay

As a way of sustaining the high demand for power across the world, numerous countries have established nuclear power plants. These processing plants have the capability to produce a large quantity of power. The article, “Why I Still Support Nuclear Power, Even After Fukushima,” by William Tucker demonstrates the importance of the system in energy production. For many years, nuclear power has experienced a lot of opposition from diverse groups, and this has been triggered by numerous critical issues that took place in different regions, such as Japan (Tucker). In particular, the application of nuclear power in Japan caused widespread radioactive contamination, which is a major threat to human life.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Despite the high opposition rate of the nuclear system, other forms of energy still pose a threat to human life. Tucker says, “In 1944, a natural gas explosion in Cleveland leveled an entire neighborhood and killed 130 people” (Tucker). Even though the gas system is a major threat to human life, people continuously use them even at home. Therefore, there are a lot of dangerous aspects that are caused by numerous energy systems across the world. In this case, people tend to concentrate too much on risks that are triggered by the nuclear energy system, thus, forgetting other dangers initiated by other sources of power. According to Tucker, there are no better energy technologies as all are linked with different forms of risks (Tucker). As such, human response toward the energy system acts as a drive that influences the nature of risks that may occur.

With the high level of technology growth rate across the world, the demand for power is continuously increasing. As such, most of the power systems with cities are not capable of supplying enough power. However, the application of the nuclear power system is a major aspect that the world can use to ensure there is enough energy in all cities (Tucker). Trucker says, “A coal plant must be fed by a 100-car freight train arriving every 30 hours. A nuclear reactor is refueled by a fleet of six trucks arriving once every two years” (Tucker). In this case, Trucker is trying to demonstrate how nuclear power is efficient as compared to coal. Additionally, Trucker demonstrates that the application of nuclear power is associated with fewer environmental effects as compared to others, such as coal.

Trucker highlights that the application of natural gases has experienced major challenges, especially due to numerous regulations that control air and water pollution. The approach hinders the establishment of many plants that rely on natural gases (Tucker). Additionally, Trucker explains that water or wind power is about 15 orders of magnitude, which is less than can be produced using nuclear power. Therefore, governments are required to construct large sizes of a dam to ensure they can produce the same amount of energy formed by a single nuclear reactor (Tucker). In the same manner, solar collectors must construct a large system to produce the same amount that can be produced by one nuclear reactor. Even though these natural source energies are effective, they are highly affected by weather conditions, and this affects the amount of energy they can produce throughout the year (Tucker). Therefore, it is challenging for countries to meet the demand for energy without reliable systems such as nuclear power. As a way of countering energy challenges, there are about 64 nuclear reactors, which are constructed under very high standards to improve their safety (Tucker). Therefore, the application of nuclear power may assist in providing a cheap and reliable source of energy, thus, facilitating other activities such as manufacture.

Work Cited

Tucker, William. “Why I Still Support Nuclear Power, Even After Fukushima.” WSJ. 2011. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704396904576226820013417298 Accessed on 25th Sept 2020.