United States Nuclear Power - "to Be or Not to Be"

United States Nuclear Power

"To Be or Not to Be"

Abstract:

This case study will look at the controversial question of whether or not the U.S. should begin to lean towards more nuclear power. We will examine first the history of nuclear power in the United States, second we will be going over Nuclear Pros and Cons. Then we'll finish up with a conclusion based on my own interpretation of the facts regarding the subject.

Research into the peaceful uses of nuclear materials in the U.S. began shortly after the end of World War II under the auspices of the Atomic Energy Commission. Medical scientists were interested in the effects of radiation on cancer cells, while the military led research into energy generation and other uses. The U.S. Navy saw an opportunity to power their ships without the need to refuel for several decades, and so took the lead on nuclear power with the Naval Reactors Project. (Atoms for Peace, 2003) Captain Hyman Rickover oversaw the project, and his team's work led to the development of the Pressurized Water Reactor, the first naval nuclear reactor, which was later installed in the submarine USS Nautilus.

After the successes of the Naval Reactors Project, plans were soon underway for the development of steam-driven turbine generators powered by a nuclear reactor for use on land. And on May 26th, 1958, Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States, was opened by President Eisenhower as part of his Atoms for Peace Program. More nuclear power plants were built throughout the 1960s, and the Atomic Energy Commission anticipated that more than 1,000 reactors would be operating in the United States by the year 2000. But due to the combined pressures of high construction costs and a low demand for energy, it became clear in the 1970s that the nuclear power industry would not grow nearly as dramatically as predicted.

Additionally, nuclear energy began to experience strong political resistance based on environmental and safety concerns, and the incident at Three Mile Island in 1979 only galvanized these claims. (World Nuclear Association, 2006) Eventually more than 120 reactor orders were cancelled and the construction of new reactors came screeching to a halt. Today there are 104 nuclear power plants operating in the United States, which generate over 20% of our total electrical output.

Now that we've briefly covered the history of the nuclear energy program, let's take a look at some of its Pros and Cons, as well as those of the alternatives. The extraction of fossil fuels from increasingly-difficult environments is a dangerous business, a truth underlined spectacularly by several incidents in the last year alone. Take for example the explosion at Massey Mine in April that killed 29 miners. Or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that turned the Gulf Coast into a blackened, brackish mess. The nuclear option hasn't looked this good in decades, which may be why 6 new plants are being built and expected to come online in