by Rose Oscura

Created on: October 31, 2008

The question that I will be exploring in this article essay is whether nuclear energy is a good source of energy. While considering this question, we will be taking the time to look at the good, the bad, and the opinions of citizens throughout the world. I think this is an interesting question because, although nuclear energy is a very efficient source of energy, it also comes with many problems such as radioactivity. As soon in past experiences (such as Chernobyl), it can also be very dangerous and toxic for hundreds of years to come if an accident happens to take place.

The first source I will be using is an article by the Economist called "The Shape of Things to Come?". I chose this article because it gives information about the current and past use of nuclear power plants. It also explains about the different accidents that have happened in the past for the world that tends to make most citizens very wary about returning to nuclear energy once again. This source was written by the Economist explaining the reasons for and against nuclear energy. This article doesn't have an argument nor a bias. It shares both sides of the argument equally while exploring what countries are currently doing about it. I believe it used current examples well to explore the different pros and cons of nuclear energy.
This article made quite a few good points. For one, nuclear energy opens up many different jobs for citizens. Mining uranium, designing power plants, and reprocessing waste fuel are among only a few o the jobs that are needed to keep power plants running. Although the jobs may be hazardous, this also improves the pay that is given to the worker. Because of this, many low-income adults end up working in nuclear energy and other jobs that pay for hazardous pay. Out of this, however, for those that work in nuclear power plants, comes a lot of different defects. For people that work there at years at a time, exposure to radioactivity becomes a problem. The radioactivity can cause cancer in a lot of people. With women, it can also cause birth defects in their future children.
Another good point that this article made was that most people are now considering nuclear power instead of other fuel sources because nuclear power doesn't produce the same amount of carbon that other fuel sources use. Therefore, in a world that's now concerned with global warming, nuclear power offers a solution that other alternative fuel sources do not it burns very efficiently and without many

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