One of the consequences of the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, was, of course, a leak of radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant on the country’s east coast. Soon afterwards, all the people living within twenty kilometers of the plant were told to leave because of the danger from the radiation.
All around the world, everyone watching the Fukushima situation on TV could only hope it would not be as serious as the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986, when tens of thousands of people had to leave their homes permanently.
The pros and cons of nuclear power always come up in debates about how the world should produce the energy it needs. Those who think the risks are too great can obviously use Chernobyl (and now Fukushima) in their argument, while also pointing out that nuclear waste stays radioactive for hundreds of years, and asking what might happen if terrorists ever chose to attack a nuclear power plant.
Those who support nuclear power point out that
a very small amount of nuclear fuel can create a huge amount of energy, and that unlike the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas, nuclear power plants don’t contribute to global warming by pushing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Most of the world’s energy currently comes from fossil fuels,
but this can’t go on forever. As well as the problem of global warming, there is the simple fact that the Earth has a limited amount of these resources. They will eventually run out – although there is a lot of disagreement about when that might be.
Apart from nuclear power, which currently provides less than 10% of the world’s energy, the other alternative is
energy from renewable sources. These include hydropower, biofuels (made mostly from crops), wind power, and solar power, and together they currently provide around 15% of the world’s energy.
Some scientists think
renewable energy is the great hope for the future – not only because it won’t run out, but also because it is less risky than nuclear power and produces far fewer greenhouse gases than burning fossil fuels.
Other scientists, however,
believe we will never produce enough renewable energy to fill the gap when fossil fuels begin to run out. That is why, even while watching the very worrying events in Japan, they argue that nuclear power will always have to be part of the solution to the world’s energy problems.
