Nuclear_Power

English Oral Today I’d like to find an answer to a question, sitting at the thresholds of our minds for far too long. “Should we have nuclear power plants in Australia'” and to that specific question, my answer is yes. I’m betting you don’t know much about nuclear power plants, so let me explain it in simple English, • Rods of Radioactive materials, such as uranium are placed in water which causes a reaction generating mass amounts of steam. • The steam is then channelled through a turbine which generates electricity. • Most times steam is trapped by a condenser which breaks the steam back down into water and it is then recycled into the fission chamber. • During this process, an external cool water supply is used to cool the fission reactor to keep things from overheating and exploding Nuclear Power is much, much cleaner than other methods of producing power. It doesn’t spit out poisonous gasses such as carbon, sulfer and nitrogen dioxide. In these modern times were having a protest a day against greenhouse gas emissions, well, the federal government has found that we could save 10million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power plants accompanied with other forms of energy saving options for rural towns and remote areas. Now, is all these protestors put down their pickets and asked for a nuclear power plant, all their prayers would be answered. When Compared to fossil fuel waste, the product of nuclear power, or nuclear waste, is not only in a small quantity, but it also remains confined as not to impact on its surroundings. It has been proved that if a typical family of four uses nuclear power for all its needs then the waste produced over a period of a lifetime would be the size of a golf ball, and we all know how hard it is to be hit by one of those, they’re teenie weenie and itsy bitsy. Nuclear power plants will last; they have a lifespan of around 40 to 60 years before they need an update. The source of nuclear power is uranium and can be uncovered in mass amounts right here in Australia, instead of selling it off to other countries, we could use it ourselves, for our own benefit. And it will be there for centuries to come because there is a heck of a lot of it. And not much needs to be used either way. Nuclear power stations are small, the size of the area occupied by the MCG, they aren’t hard to build; they would create hundreds of jobs and their renewable. all that water that goes in, is used again and again and again in an endless cycle, hardly any water is used up in the process. I know what you’re thinking, “but what about the radiation'”, “what if it all goes, BOOM!”. These fears are brought about by a lack of knowledge about radiation, and people’s prejudice notions against it. You’d be surprised to hear but radiation has been a part of our environment ever since the earth’s existence. Radiation in moderate amounts can be used for our health, radiation is used in x-rays and MRI scans. It’s everywhere! Radiation need not be feared; it can be used in good, positive ways and can serve mankind well. Nuclear power is safe, all the accidents over the years have come, yes, but less and far between compared to the incidents that occur in coal mines. Think of the 29 of our New Zeland brothers we lost, and was that not from a coal mine explosion' The US have lost about 9000 lives since 1940, and in the past years the death toll has gone down dramatically due to nuclear power plants. Think about it, how many more lives are we to lose to these unsafe methods' When we could save ourselves the pain, and maby, find an even better solution for all those who wear a nuclear explosion wait. Well, I say why not' Science is developing so rapidly that in one or two years someone may find a way to make nuclear power plants safer, and it is then, that Australia should have nuclear power plants installed. So, there is the answer to the question, “should nuclear power plants be introduced into Australia'” And I say, yes, and perhaps even in a year or two, when it becomes safer.