Nuclear power plants are increasing in number as it is seen as an energy efficient source of power. At the moment 14% of the world’s electricity is provided from it.
It is considered a more viable option than other non-renewable resources, like fossil fuels. The average kilo of nuclear waste takes up 100 times less space than that of fossil fuels; however it can remain for centuries. There are also many risks, a nuclear meltdown, terrorists getting hold of nuclear weapons; to name but a few.
Over the decades there have been many nuclear mishaps, namely the ‘Chernobyl Disaster’. This occurred when an explosion, created by a fire, caused significant damage to the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Resulting in large quantities of radioactive contamination being released into the atmosphere. That was 25 years ago; however the threat of a nuclear disaster is still big, in fact you only have to look back four months to see what happened in Fukushima.
Interestingly Western nations seem to be going off the idea of nuclear energy, Germany have approved plans to close down all nuclear power plants in the country by 2022. While at the same time Eastern nations have been attempting to initiate their own nuclear programs, something the US government are not pleased about.
Fortunately, despite recent allegations of Saddam Hussein having WMDs (which were false) there has never been a nuclear war, although we have been close. In October 1962 the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ took place. The Soviet Union (which divided in 1991) and Cuban governments started building bases for nuclear weapons in Cuba. This was done as retaliation for the US building bases in Turkey. The US could not allow this to happen, if the Soviets had launched a nuclear missile aiming for America, from Cuba, the American’s defence systems would not have had time to activate. Resulting in millions of deaths. The US announced that it would not permit nuclear weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the Soviet Union dismantled the missile bases in Cuba or there would be war, and thankfully the Soviets backed down.
I guess the real question is, would the advancement of nuclear fusion take us BACK to the days of the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’? Alternatively, would the spreading of nuclear technology bring and end to the energy poverty that affects most of the Eastern world?
Written By Thomas Munson
Follow Him On Twitter: @eltomo71
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