Man has developed nuclear energy as an alternative source of clean and cheap energy to fossil fuels. Leading organizations propose to strengthen the role of nuclear energy as a future less environmentally damaging energy supply that produces reliable electricity on a large scale. Allow me to briefly define the magnitude.
Nuclear power is one of the most efficient energy solutions available and is stable baseload energy that produces low pollution and sufficient fuel capacity. Nuclear energy is a source of energy located in the nucleus or nucleus of an atom. Once extracted, this energy can be used to produce electricity by creating nuclear fission in the reactor through an atomic reaction.
Nuclear reactors use uranium as a fuel, and the nuclear fission process generates energy that splits uranium atoms into two or more nuclei, producing gamma photons that release a very large amount of radioactive energy. Fission is used to create steam that brings water under pressure to spin turbines to produce electricity. The amount of energy contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times greater than the amount of free energy contained in a mass of chemical fuel like gasoline. This leads to the conclusion that nuclear fission produces energy for nuclear power and triggers the explosion of nuclear weapons.
In 1938, German scientists in a Berlin laboratory made a discovery, splitting an atom of uranium and releasing an enormous amount of energy, enough to detonate a bomb. The famous Einstein equation E=mc2 explains the energy released in the atomic bomb and provides the theoretical basis for that weapon but does not explain how to make it. Einstein never worked directly on the atomic bomb, but he collaborated in the production. When the editor of a Japanese magazine once asked him why he had collaborated in the production of the atomic bomb, knowing full well their destructive power, he replied that he only wanted to write to President Roosevelt and suggested that the United States should investigate atomic weapons before the Germans used this lethal technology. His letter helped push the United States to produce an atomic bomb.
The first nuclear power plant went into operation in 1954 in the former Soviet Union and has been producing industrial electricity for nearly 5 decades. Operating successfully before its closure in 2002. Most nuclear reactors were built between 1970 and 1985 around the world. Today, nuclear power satisfies about 10 percent of global energy demand. Due to the energy crisis and the dramatic rise in oil prices, more and more countries are implementing nuclear energy programs.
Currently, there are 439 nuclear power plants operating in 32 countries. China, France, and the United States dominate the market, France relies on nuclear power for 70% of its electricity. Proponents of nuclear energy, such as France, Canada, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, have seen the fastest decline in carbon energy and have experienced a transition to clean energy. According to the United States Office of Nuclear Energy, nuclear power produces the most energy, over 93% during the year, making it more reliable than solar and wind power. But nuclear power plants are expensive to build and take more than a decade and undergo cleaning cycles every 1.5 to 2 years.
Nuclear power produces no greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and CO2 and is cheap to use. But while nuclear power can be clean, the highly radioactive and toxic byproducts of nuclear reactors can remain for tens of thousands of years. From a public health perspective, nuclear power is much safer than fossil fuels, and fossil fuel chemicals are silently killing millions of people around the world. While only three accidents have occurred in the 70 years since the start of nuclear power, the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
There have been several nuclear disasters which been remembered for their life-threatening consequences and devastating impact.
Many oppose nuclear power knowing the dangers of nuclear waste. Since 1950, stocks of 250,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste have been accumulated and distributed around the world with 90,000 tons stored in the United States alone. Most waste requires a storage time of at least 300 years. The Fukushima disaster, while not killing anyone directly, caused the displacement of more than 150,000 people, thousands of evacuation-related deaths, and billions of dollars in cleaning costs. Furthermore, the lack of nuclear power is the proliferation of nuclear weapons (the deadly atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
The growing use of nuclear energy includes operational risks, safety concerns, uranium mining risks, unresolved waste management problems, financial and regulatory risks, nuclear proliferation problems, and negative public opinion.
In 2020, the United States is the largest consumer of nuclear energy, accounting for more than 30% of world nuclear energy consumption. Here are the figures for the global nuclear energy consumption from the leading nuclear counties: the United States with 30.9% with 93 operational nuclear reactors, China with 13.5% with 50 operational reactors, France is at 13.3% with 56 reactors, and Russia a mere 7.9%. Over 50 countries use nuclear energy in around 220 research reactors. These reactors are mainly used to produce medical and industrial isotopes, as well as for training.
The reason for this increased interest from those major countries is that nuclear technology has many beneficial uses. Nuclear energy uses radioactive materials and finds application in nuclear technology used in industry, agriculture, medicine (biological experiments, medical diagnostics, and treatments), scientific research, the environment, water resources, and production of electricity, and in our homes. Nuclear energy is used in space exploration. According to NASA, deep space is made possible by radioisotope energy systems. Radioisotopes, nuclear thermal energy processes, and energy reactors have essential uses in several areas of modern life. Radioisotopes are mainly produced by fission in nuclear research reactors using highly enriched uranium.
Radiation and radioisotopes used in food and agriculture are helping to reduce the chronic malnutrition of millions of people. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is working on programs to improve food sustainability with the help of nuclear and related biotechnology in food production and agriculture. The use of radiation in agriculture substantially improves the natural process or spontaneous mutation, significantly shortening the time required.
In a period of rapid population growth, the use of nuclear techniques has made it possible (Bangladesh and Greater Asia in general) to achieve food security and better nutrition. For better management of fertilizer use, fertilizers are labeled with a specific isotope (nitrogen-15). Radiation is also used to control insect populations, and insects are sterilized by radiation (gamma or x-rays).
Ships, submarines, icebreakers, and aircraft carriers are powered by small nuclear reactors, and nuclear power is suitable for ships that must remain unloaded for a long time. Radioisotope thermal generators are used in space missions, some are powered by radioisotope thermal heat generators and solar panels. The isotopic hydrological technique allows the monitoring and measurement of the volume of groundwater resources. Conservation is looking into the possibility of injecting traces of stable isotopes into rhino horns to increase the chances of identifying traffickers with radiation detection devices.
But despite these benefits, the fact remains that a nuclear weapon (atomic bomb, nuclear bomb, warhead, atomic bomb, or nuclear bomb) is an explosive device that derives its destructive power from nuclear reactions, fission bombs, or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bombs) that release large amounts of energy from small amounts of matter. A thermonuclear weapon or hydrogen bomb is a second-generation nuclear weapon with greater refinement and destructive power than a first-generation atomic bomb. A nuclear bomb can destroy an entire city through explosions, fires, and radiation. The countries that presently own and possess nuclear weapons are the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Only South Africa developed and then dismantled its nuclear weapons.
Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal and has 6255 nuclear warheads, the United States has 5550 nuclear warheads, China 350, France 290, Britain 225, Pakistan 165, India has 156 and Israel has 90 nuclear warheads. Nuclear proliferation peaked at around 70,000 missile-mounted nuclear warheads in 1986 and began to decline with the Mutual Disarmament Agreements, the 1987 Agreement on Medium-Range Nuclear Forces, and the Strategic Weapons Reduction Treaty. It’s estimated that 14,000 nuclear warheads will be available by 2021.
North Korea conducts nuclear tests and therefore violates United Nations resolutions banning the development of nuclear weapons. The Israeli government refused to confirm the country's nuclear capabilities. There are five countries with US nuclear weapons, Turkey has 50 US nuclear weapons, Italy 40, Belgium 15 has US nuclear weapons on their territory, and these countries have not ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and are constantly voting against it. The UN General Assembly 2018 resolution welcomes the adoption of the NPT.
It’s empirically known that nuclear weapons have destructive power, are detrimental to the environment, and are a threat to human survival. A nuclear warhead could kill hundreds of thousands of people with lasting and devastating consequences. Smoke from fires triggered by nuclear weapons would be heated by the sun, rise into the upper stratosphere, spread around the world, and last for years. Dense black clouds could block the outdoors and sunlight for several weeks.
"Nuclear winter" is a term for a theory that describes the climatic effects of nuclear warfare. More than 2,000 nuclear explosions have been detonated, mostly in uninhabited areas, such as Bikini Atoll, above. The nuclear explosions of the looming mushroom cloud and the precipitation of radiation are immediate and frightening effects, and a nuclear winter would follow an extended series of nuclear explosions in urban areas.
The risk of human extinction from nuclear weapons stems from catastrophic climate change and the nuclear winter as secondary effects of a nuclear detonation. According to the assumptions of a group of atmospheric scientists, we must be concerned about the potential for strong cooling, which would mean a reduction in the global average surface temperature of nearly 10 ° C, the risk of extinction is also small, many people would freeze but hunger is probably the biggest risk. Perhaps after 10 to 15 years, the strong cooling effect of the nuclear winter would have catastrophic consequences, and agriculture in most of the world would be possible with reduced capacity. Loss of agriculture would likely kill most people on earth, but modern technology and the vast food supplies currently existing in the world would save many lives. The climate impact of nuclear exchange remains an unsolved problem, research predicts the worst-case scenario.
Radiation from nuclear weapons will not kill everyone, because there are not enough weapons and the radiation from them would be concentrated in some areas. The products of modern nuclear weapons are very lethal, but only for a few days to a few weeks. With 14,000 warheads available, 112 million km2 of urban space could be affected by radiation, but that is less than 510.1 million km2 of the landmass. It would be nearly impossible to kill any man with radiation with existing arsenals. Even if deadly radioactive fallout from the ground covered all population centers, many people would still survive in shelters. Radiological (nuclear) weapons can create precipitation and continue to emit levels of radiation and make the area uninhabitable for years.
The long-contested fear is anti-war, anti-nuclear and should reappear right now, at a time when the world is moving to reconsider nuclear energy as a substitute for everything, oil, coal, and gas. The war in Ukraine has sparked fears of a nuclear conflict. This was stated by the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov that Russia would only use nuclear weapons if its very existence was threatened. President Putin may choose to detonate one of his laser nuclear weapons. NATO and the United States have said they will respond to any nuclear use.
A coalition of NGOs and 100 countries, the International Campaign for the Abolition of nuclear weapons (ICAN), promotes compliance with and implementation of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
It’s time to ban nuclear weapons. Their destructive effects outweigh the benefits. Everyone should get rid of nuclear weapons, rather than worry about killing everyone on the planet. Failing to do so will most likely result in nuclear warfare and change the course of history.