Certainly, nuclear power is renewable, but how environmentally friendly it is comes under regular scrutiny and analysis. With nuclear power again doing the rounds in government, its viability as an energy source for public consumption is once again under examination.
Nuclear Power – An Introduction
What exactly is nuclear power?
The Global Development Research Centre, an independent think tank concerned with environmental reform, defines it in the following way:
“Energy, usually in the form of heat or electricity, produced by the process of nuclear fission within a nuclear reactor. The coolant that removes the heat from the nuclear reactor is normally used to boil water, and the resultant steam drives steam turbines that rotate electrical generators”.
So that’s the process by which its made. What, though, are the credentials for claiming that nuclear power is renewable, then?
What Makes Nuclear Power Renewable?
Its first worth noting that nuclear power is of incredible low carbon value: most of the carbon it creates is not in the process by which the energy is made, and its CO2 emissions are minimal.This is what potentially makes nuclear energy ‘green’.
The debate over its inclusion in the renewable energy family, though, drew mainstream coverage in the 1980s. The argument goes that uranium is in effect an inexhaustible resource – the amount that can potentially be created outlasts the life of the sun according to this argument – meaning that the energy it creates is a potentially infinite, renewable energy.
As is to be expected, the validity of this argument is highly contested: many take issue with the argument that uranium would last the billions of years to take to outlast the lifespan of the sun. Others dismiss its credibility simply on the basis that lasting an incredibly long time is not the same ‘infinite’.
Can We Begin to Talk About Green Nuclear Energy
A similar debate continues over the environmental friendliness of nuclear energy. In its short life time, nuclear power has had some pretty awful press. the atomic bomb and Chernobyl are incredibly high profile tragedies that will remain strong cases against the use of nuclear energy.
In arguments about its safety, such cases will make sure that – at the very least – nuclear energy is always treated with caution. Theoretically, many argue, it is quite safe: particularly since improved technology has improved safety. But others argue that the practical problems of toxic waste dumping, plus the margin for human error.
