The northern half of New Jersey is one of the most urbanized areas of the US, bu

Question

The northern half of New Jersey is one of the most urbanized areas of the US, but the open spaces around the pine barrens and shorelines of the southern part of the state is occupied by four nuclear reactors. Nuclear power generates approximately half of New Jersey’s electricity whereas natural gas and coal account for only 30% and 16% of total electricity produced respectively. The popularity of nuclear energy stems from the fact that no greenhouse gases are produced using this technology. New reactors are in the planning stages for 15 states in the US including New Jersey. With fossil fuels running out rapidly, do you support or oppose the use of nuclear energy as a primary energy source? Support your answer with appropriate references. A thorough essay may include the following:

• An explanation of safety, financial, regulatory and environmental/ waste disposal and any other issues you feel the need to discuss to support your position.
• Will it be able to diminish our reliance on petroleum fossil fuels completely?
• Provide facts and statistics where possible.
• What do other scientists have to say about the use of nuclear energy in the future. Provide references to their articles.

I need about 2 pages of information. Thank you

Explanation / Answer

Nuclear power is cost competitive with other forms of electricity generation, except where there is a direct access to low cost fossil fuels. Fuel costs for nuclear plants are a minor proportion of total generating costs,though capital costs are greater than those for gas fired plants.In assessing the economics of nuclear power, decommissioning and waste disposal costs are fully taken into account. From the outset, there has been a strong awareness of the potential hazard of the both nuclear critically and release of radioactive materials from generating electricity with nuclear power.As in other industries, the design and operation of nuclear power plants aims to minimise the likelihood accidents, and avoid major human consequences when they occur. The major source of energy comes from fossil fuels, and the dominant fossil fuels used today by most industrialised and developing countries are oil coal and natural gas. Production of fossil fuels is expected to rise, approximately doubling the amount of use of each fossil fuels. Hensen among others such as former secretary of Energy Steven chu, thinks that nuclear power is a key energy technology to fend catastrophic climate change.Proponents of nuclear energy argues that nuclear power is a clean and sustainable energy source which provides huge amounts of uninterrupted energy without polluting the air or emitting the carbon emissions that cause Global warming.

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