Students name: Nguyen Hai Tra

Class: QH2017E7
ESSAY DRAFT 1
Topic: At present we rely on oil for most our energy needs. However, oil is a fossil
fuel and causes air pollution, and it will eventually run out. Nuclear energy is the
only practical and clean source of energy for the world. In what extent do you
agree or disagree?
In our contemporary life, one of the heated issues is that the environment is at
stake due to different fossil fuels such as gas and oil, which are reaching the
exhausted peak. The question of choosing between which kind of sources should
be required to generate energy is a very controversial issue, and it is now a matter
of public concern. Some people believe that nuclear energy can be replacement of
fossil fuels, whereas a host of people assume that it exerts detrimental influence as
well. Although fossil fuel can be beneficial in many cases, people should consume
nuclear energy because of its benefits in terms of safety, economics and
environment issues.
The opposition assumes that nuclear power is very dangerous, because nuclear
accidents can cause immediate health effects such as cancer, even fatalities.
However, serious nuclear accidents are really scarce and not particularly dangerous
as people may think. Jorge Morale Pedraza’s writing reinforce the belief that the
systems become more proficient in construction and management of the power
plant. Ramana’s studies show that the scientists have come up with some way to
make the process much safer. The first is to design the reactors, it can prevent
radiation from spreading out. The second is to incorporate protective system,
which will mitigate the effects of an accident. When comparing with nuclear
power, coal is far more hazardous. While nuclear power prevented morality
annually, coal continues to cause hundreds of thousands of premature deaths a year
from air pollution according to Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen. Even with all
nuclear accidents considered, nuclear power is by far the safest, compared to the
number of lives lost on other forms of energy production like coal and gas. It costs
a lot of money to produce and take care of nuclear plants. Nuclear power
producing has another component, which is very expensive, is decommissioning
the reactors. While the operating costs for nuclear power plants exceeds the cost of
other electricity-generating power sources, the total cost is less than that of other
fossil fuels, and it can bring potential economic benefits for the country. Ramana’s
writing also shows that the cost of decommissioning and dealing with radioactive
wastes will be incurred in many years into the future, their discounted costs, for
any nonzero discount rate, will be small. In our developing world, Jorge Morale
Pedraza states that people are confronting with the escalating fossil fuels prices due
to the scarcity, nuclear energy program can produce stable and predictable costs in
the long run. Fossil fuels are becoming scarcer as industrial demand escalating and
the population growth, it is obvious that the prices of fossil fuels have increased
dramatically. As a consequence, an alternative energy source as nuclear power is
needed to maintain the stability of electricity prices, which is beneficial for
domestic economics.
Nuclear power is protested due to the effects it has on the Earth, which are water,
air and greenhouse gases. The pollution from nuclear has adverse impact on the air
or soil in the long run. When concerning the environmental problems, it can be
seen that fossil fuel burning is much more harmful than nuclear energy. According
to Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen, nuclear energy saves huge amount of
carbon going into the atmosphere. These gases are produced in vast quantities
when fossil fuels are burned and then cause serious air-pollution. Nowadays, air
pollution has become a serious problem, the consequences of burning fossil fuels
had come to light, therefore, an environmental friendly source of energy is in need.
Nuclear energy can tackle with the environmental issue which is the biggest
drawback of the fossil fuels in some ways.
In a word, for the abovementioned reasons, there is a little room for doubt that
though fossil fuel has its own redeeming features, nuclear energy is highly
recommended in the long run. However, the government should take this into
consideration before introducing a nuclear power program in their country.
 REFERENCES LIST
Coal and gas are far more harmful than nuclear power – Climate Change: Vital
Signs of the Planet. (2015, November 5). Retrieved from
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/903/coal-and-gas-are-far-more-harmful-than-
nuclear-power/.
Nuclear Power: Economic, Safety, Health, and Environmental Issues of Near-Term
Technologies. (2009). doi: 10.1146/annurev.environ.033108.092057
Is nuclear power a realistic to the use of fossil fuels for the production of
electricity? Jorge Morale Pedraza (2011)